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Lawson,  George 

Practical  expositions  of  the 
whole  books  of  Ruth 


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EXPOSITIONS 


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THE  WHOLE  BOOKS  OF 


RUTH  AND  ESTHER; 


WITH  THREE  SERMONS  ON  THE  DUTIES  OF  PARENTS 
TO  THEIR  CHILDREN. 


BY  GEORGE   LAWSON,  D.  D. 

MINISTER  OF  THE  ASSOCIATE  CONGIIEGATIOX,   SELKIRK;   AND  PRO- 
FESSOR OF  THEOLOGY  OF  THE   ASSOCIATE  SYNOD  OF  SCOTLAND. 


WITH  A   MEMOIR  OF  HIS  LIFE   AND  WRITINGS. 


PHILADELPHIA:  WM.  S.  RENTOUL. 
1870. 


RENTOUL'S  LIBRARY 


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Of  this  valuable  series  there  are  now  published,  in  uniform  ^vo.  size, 
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I.  Wardlaw's  (Ealph,  D.D.)  Expository  Lectures  on  the  whole 
Book  of  Ecclesiastes:  432  pages.— "It  is  like  the  sword  of  Goliath, 
*  there  is  none  like  it.' " 

II.  Stuart's  (Rev.  A.  Moody)  Exposition  of  the  whole  of  the 
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PREFACE 

OF  THE  PUBLISHER  OF  THIS  EDITION. 


The  Writings  of  Dr.  George  Lawson  have  been  suffered  so 
long  to  fall  out  of  print  both  in  Great  Britain  and  America, 
that  their  excellence  is  but  little  known  to  the  new  generation 
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culty that  the  diligent  and  indefatigable  book  hunter  can  now 
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of  Kuth  and  Esther,  or  of  his  other  most  instructive  works. 

The  Publisher  has  considered,  that  no  books  could  be  se- 
lected by  him  as  more  suitable  to  form  a  part  of  his  Library 
OF  SPECIAL  Expositions  of  Books  of  the  Bible,  than  Dr. 
Lawson's  Lectures  and  Discourses  on  Ruth  and  Esther.  To 
these  he  has  appended  Dr.  L's.  three  admirable  Sermons  on 
the  Duties  of  Parents— to  which  a  number  of  fresh  Notes  have 
been  added  applicable  to  the  circumstances  of  our  own  time; 
and  he  has  prefixed  to  the  whole  an  interesting  Memoir  of  the 
author  and  his  Writings,  by  Dr.  Henry  Belfrage.  The  Me- 
moir will  be  found  sufficiently  full  and  minute  to  gratify  the 
reader's  natural  desire  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  our 
author's  blameless  and  amiable  Christian  life  and  character. 

'  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed ';  and  the  Publisher  feels 
iii 


IV 


happy  to  contribute,  even  in  his  humble  sphere,  to  perpetu- 
ate the  memory  and  blessed  example  of  so  eminently  godly  a 
man  as  Dr.  Lawson ;  and  to  re-produce,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
present  generation,  some  of  the  most  instructive  and  useful  of 
his  writings. 

This  is  peculiarly  a  volume  of  precious  reading  for  Chris- 
tian families.     It  is  instinct  with  practical  instruction  both 
for  parents  and  youth.     The  weight  and,  importance  of  the 
matter  is  only  equalled  by  the  elegant  simplicity  of  the  style. 
Philadelphia,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Memoir  of  Dr.  Lawson  and  his  Writings,        ,  .       ^    ,  ix 

LECTURES   ON   THE   WHOLE    BOOK   OF  RUTH. 
Introduction,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1 

Lecture  I. 

Chap  i.  1-5. — Elimeleck  and  his  family  go  to  sojourn  in  the  land 
ofMoab, 7 

Lecture  II, 
Chap.  i.  6-10. — Naomi's  return  to  her  own  country,  .  .19 

Lecture  III. 
Chap.  i.  11-15. — The  same  subject  continued,  ,  ,  .29 

Lecture  IV. 
Chap.  i.  16-18. — Ruth's  steadfastness  to  her  religious  profession,    .    40 

Lecture  V. 
Chap.  i.  19-22. — Ruth's  arrival  with  Naomi  at  Bethlehem,  .    48 

Lecture  VI. 

Chap.  ii.  1-4. — Ruth  goes  to  glean,  and  meets  with  Boaz,  .    59 

Lecture  VII. 
Chap.  ii.  5-14. — Boaz  speaks  kindly  to  Ruth  in  the  harvest  field,    70 

Lecture  VIII. 

Chap.  ii.  15-23. — Boaz'  directions  to  his  reapers  to  treat  Ruth  kindly 
— her  success  in  gleaning,  &c.,         .  .  .  .84 

V 


VI  CONTENTS. 


Lecture  IX.  page 

Chap.  iii.  1-9.— Kuth,  at  the  instigation  of  Naomi,  lays  herself  down 
at  the  feet  of  Boaz,  and  requests  him  to  cast  his  skirt  over  her,     95 

Lecture  X. 

Chap.  iii.  10-18. — Boaz  promises  to  Ruth  to  marry  her,  if  her  hus- 
band's nearest  kinsman  did  not  insist  upon  his  prior  right.  He 
dismisses  her  with  a  present  to  her  mother-in-law,  who  ex- 
presses great  satisfaction  with  her  kind  reception  by  Boaz,  107 

Lecture  XI. 

Chap.  iv.  1-10. — Boaz,  in  the  presence  of  ten  elders  of  Bethlehem, 
procures  the  consent  of  Ruth's  nearest  kinsman  to  his  marriage 
with  her,  .  .  .  •  .  .  .119 

Lecture  XII. 
Chap.  iv.  10-22. — Ruth's  marriage,  and  the  birth  of  Obed,  .    131 


DISCOURSES  ON  THE  WHOLE  BOOK  OF   ESTHER. 

IXTRODUCTION,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .149 

Discourse  I. 
Chap.  i.  1-9. — Ahasuerus's  feast,        .....     152 

Discourse  II. 
Chap.  i.  10-22.— The  disobedience  and  divorce  of  Vashti,    .  .     161 

DiSCOURE  III. 

Chap.  ii.  1-11.— Extraordinary  method  used  to  supply  the  place  of 

Vashti, .176 

Discourse  IV. 

Chap.  ii.  12-23.— Esther  made  Queen  of  Persia— By  her  means 
Mordecai  discovers  to  the  king  a  conspiracy  formed  against 
hialife, 185 


CONTENTS.  VU 

DlSCOUP.SE  V.  P'^GE 

Chap.  iii.  1-6.— The  elevation  of  Haman— His  pride,  and  resolution 
to  revenge  fancied  indignities  received  from  Mordecai  upon  the 
whole  nation  of  the  Jews,  .  .  .  •  .196 

Discourse  VI. 
Chap.  iii.  7-15.— Haman  obtains  from  the  king  a  decree  for  the 

destmction  of  the  Jews,  .  .  •  •  .205 

Discourse  VII. 

Chap.  iv.  1-11.— The  grief  of  Mordecai  and  the  other  Jews  at  hear- 
ing of  the  bloody  edict— Mordecai  solicits  Esther  to  intercede 
with  the  king  in  their  behalf,      .  .  •  •  .218 

Discourse  VIII. 

Chap.  iv.  12-17.— Mordecai  insists  on  the  charge  to  Esther  to  go  in 
unto  the  king— She  complies  with  his  desire ;  but  requires  him 
to  procure  for  her  the  help  of  the  solemn  prayers  of  all  the  Jews 
in  Shushan,  ....•••     — ^ 

Discourse  IX. 

Chap.  V.  1-14.— Esther  goes  in  unto  the  king,  and  finds  favour  in 
his  eyes— Haman,  inflamed  by  revenge,  prepares  a  gallows  for 
Mordecai  of  fifty  cubits  high,      .  .  •  •  .244 

Discourse  X. 

Chap.  vi.  1-13.— Haman  is  compelled  to  confer  a  singular  honour 

upon  Mordecai,  which  he  hoped  to  procure  for  himself,  .    257 

Discourse  XL 
Chap.  vi.  14-vii.  10.— Haman's  fall  and  death,         .  .  .268 

Discourse  XII. 

Chap.  viii.  1-14.— Mordecai  is  advanced  to  great  honours— Liberty 
is  procured  for  the  Jews  to  defend  themselves  against  the  in- 
tended Massacre,  .  •  •  •  •  .279 

Discourse  XIIL 

Chap.  viii.  15-ix.  5.— Mordecai's  greatness,  with  the  happy  change 

in  the  condition  of  the  Jews,       .  .  .  •  .291 

Discourse  XIV. 
Chap.  ix.  6-19.— Numbers  of  the  slain— A  second  battle  at  Shushan,    302 


Viii  CONTENTS, 


Discourse  XV.  page 

Chap.  ix.  20-32.— Ordinance  of  Mordecai  and  Esther  for  observing 

the  days  of  Purim,  ......    312 

DiSCOUESE  XVI. 

Chap.  X.— Greatness  of  Ahasuerus— Character  and  grandeur  of 

Mordecai,  .......    324 


SERMONS  ON  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  TO  THEIR 
CHILDREN. 

Sermon  I.    Ephesians  vi.  4,  .  .  .  .  .    335 

Sermon  II.    Same  Text, 350 

Sermon  III.    Same  Text, 381 


A 

MEMOIR 

OP 

DK.  LAWSON  AND   HIS   WRITINGS, 
BY 

HENRY    BELFRAGE,  D.  D. 


De.  Lawson  was  born  in  tlie  parish  of  West  Linton  in  the  shire  of 
Peebles,  Scotland,  in  1749,  and  by  the  care  of  very  pious  parents  was  trained 
up  in  the  fear  of  God.  It  has  often  been  remarked  how  many  of  our  men 
of  genius  have  sprung  from  the  peasantry  of  Scotland,  and  that  on  the 
mountain's  side  they  felt  the  first  movements  of  that  inspiration  by  which 
the  world  has  been  charmed;  and  men  of  God  have  delighted  to  look 
back  to  the  still  waters,  where,  in  their  early  days,  they  mused  on  the 
Shepherd  of  Israel,  and  to  the  wood  and  the  glen  where  they  poured  out 
their  hearts  to  the  Lord.  From  his  earliest  years  his  attention  was  en- 
gaged by  religion,  or  subjects  connected  with  it;  and  by  the  tuition  of 
the  venerable  men  at  whose  feet  he  sat  in  his  course  of  study  he  improved 
rapidly  in  holy  wisdom.  He  was  uniformly  characterized  by  that  modesty 
which  is  at  once  the  ornament  and  the  guardian  of  youth,  and  by  a  rare 
union  of  quickness  of  apprehension,  laborious  and  unremitted  application, 
and  a  retentiveness  of  memory  altogether  uncommon. 

After  completing  his  course  of  study  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the 
Gospel;  and  after  a  unanimous  call  by  the  people,  was  ordained  minister 
of  the  Associate  Congregation  of  Selkirk  in  1771,  and  continued  in  that 
charge  for  the  long  period  of  forty-nine  years.  The  comparative  retire, 
ment  of  this  situation  furnished  him  with  ample  opportunities  of  study, 
and  these  he  improved  with  the  greatest  eagerness.  Few  have  enriched 
ix 


X  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSON 

their  minds  so  amply  with  the  best  knowledge  as  he  did.  While  some 
ministers  have  wasted  their  time  in  visiting  and  gossiping  and  have  tried 
this  expedient  to  gain  popularity;  while  others  from  eagerness  to  be  rich 
have  engaged  in  secular  business;  and  while  others  have  devoted  their 
best  energies  to  literary  pursuits;  he  felt  that  his  people  had  a  claim  to 
all  his  efforts ;  and  that  his  time  should  be  spent  in  doing  them  good,  or 
in  fitting  himself  for  it.  Accordingly,  devoted  as  he  was  to  study,  he 
never  felt  reluctant  to  leave  his  library,  at  the  call  of  duty ;  but  at  the 
earliest  or  the  latest  hour  went  forth  to  admonish,  or  to  console,  as  the 
providence  of  God  called  him.  When  reluctance  to  such  duties  rises  in 
the  minds  of  the  studious,  it  would  he  well  for  them  to  reflect,  how  hearts 
may  be  bleeding  in  sorrow  which  they  might  be  the  means  of  comforting ; 
and  how  those  may  be  sinking  in  destruction  whom  they  might  pluck  as 
brands  from  the  burning.  The  sacrifices  thus  made  to  duty  God  will 
compensate,  by  a  light  and  vigour  which  will  more  than  make  amends 
for  the  efforts  which  arc  remitted. 

The  Scriptures  were  his  daily  study.  For  many  years  he  made  a  point 
of  committing  to  memory  a  portion  of  the  Bible  in  the  original.  A  friend 
once  remarked  to  him,  that  he  supposed  if  the  Bible  was  lost  he  (Dr.  L.) 
could  furnish  it  exactly  from  memory.  In  reply  he  remarked  that  he 
believed  he  could,  excepting  perhaps  some  of  the  passages  containing 
names  merely.  He  could  state  the  contents  of  the  different  chapters,  the 
respective  parts  of  which  they  consisted,  and  how  many  verses  were  oc- 
cupied with  each.  It  was  his  nightly  custom  to  read  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture before  he  retired  to  rest,  as  a  subject  of  meditation  while  he  was 
awake.  Meditation,  he  used  to  say,  was  an  important,  but  much  neglected 
duty;  and  that  it  would  be  well  for  some,  if  they  read  less  and  reflected 
more.  It  is  on  the  food  digested  that  nourishment  and  health  depend. 
This  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  was  not  only  most  conducive  to 
the  furtherance  of  his  own  piety  and  comfort,  but  fitted  him  for  giving 
the  best  counsel  to  others  in  every  perplexity,  and  for  improving  with 
facility  and  in  a  manner  truly  happy,  every  topic  and  event  to  which  lie 
was  called  to  advert. 

His  acquaintance  with  the  best  theological  works,  ancient  and  modern, 
was  extensive  and  accurate.  He  greatly  relished,  and  often  read  in  the 
original  Greek,  the  works  of  Chrysostom.  The  writings  of  Owen,  and 
especially  his  practical  works,  he  highly  valued.  There  are  few  who  have 
not  heard  with  surprise  and  regret  the  harsh  and  contemptuous  terms  in 
which  the  works  of  Owen  were  spoken  of  by  Hall.  We  must  consider 
the  opinion  he  expressed,  so  opposite  to  that  of  the  wise  and  good  for 
ages,  as  originating  in  the  eccentricity  of  his  genius;  and  are  confident 
that,  however  high  his  authority,  it  will  not  in  the  least  degree  lessen  the 
veneration  felt  for  the  memory  of  that  truly  great  man.  The  sermons  of 
Massillon  and  Saurin  he  read  with  pleasure,  and  in  the  original  French. 
No  translation  which  the  world  has  yet  seen  has  done  them  justice  •  and 


AND   HIS  WRITINGS.  XI 

in  reading  those  of  Massillon  especially,  we  search  in  vain,  in  sentences 
cold  and  tame,  for  the  vivacity,  and  fire,  and  pathos  of  that  eloquence  by 
which  kings  were  humbled,  and  courtiers  devoted  to  dissipation, were 
awed  into  seriousness,  or  melted  into  tears. 

The  writings  of  Jonathan  Edwards  he  carefully  studied,  and  Campbell 
on  the  Gospels,  and  other  approved  works  of  sacred  criticism ;  and  it  was 
pleasing  to  mark  with  what  simplicity  and  perspicuity  he  could  state  the 
result  of  their  most  elaborate  inquiries;  make  passages  abstruse  and  dif- 
ficult intelligible  to  persons  of  ordinary  capacity ;  and  point  out  the  les- 
sons of  wisdom  which  were  thus  set  in  a  more  striking  light,  or  freed 
from  difficulties  which  were  felt  to  be  perplexing. 

He  devoted  a  portion  of  his  time  through  the  week  to  the  perusal  of 
works  of  practical  piety;  such  as  the  writings  of  Trail,  Boston,  and  Brown. 
For  the  works  of  Trail  he  had  a  peculiar  relish.  There  is  a  holy  unction 
and  sweetness  in  them  by  which  the  devout  mind  is  charmed.  It  was 
by  such  reading  that  he  learned  to  apply  with  fidelity  and  wisdom  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  for  the  advancement  of  piety  in  his  own  soul,  and  to 
qualify  himself  for  speaking  to  the  hearts  of  others.  He  used  to  speak 
of  prayer  as  the  best  guide  in  the  search  after  truth ;  besought  the  Father 
of  lights  to  make  him  to  know  wisdom  in  the  hidden  part ;  and  felt  this 
as  the  great  object  of  his  solicitude,  that  he  might  receive  with  meekness 
the  engrafted  word  which  was  able  to  save  his  soul. 

But  he  did  not  neglect  classical  literature,  philosophy,  and  history. 
Plutarch's  lives  was  a  favourite  book  of  his,  and  from  the  incidents  he 
details,  and  the  maxims  of  wisdom  with  which  they  abound,  he  intro- 
duced into  his  discourses  many  very  appropriate  and  useful  quotations ; 
and  from  his  lips  they  fell  with  a  simplicity  and  gravity  widely  different 
from  the  levity  and  exaggeration  of  many  such  details.  He  was  familiar 
with  Homer  and  the  lesser  Greek  poets,  and  occasionally  quoted  tliem 
with  great  readiness.  The  sages  and  the  heroes  of  Greece  and  Rome  he 
valued  as  monitors,  to  teach  us  the  diligence  with  which  we  should  t>eck 
for  a  higher  wisdom,  and  strive  for  a  brighter  glory. 

The  whole  range  of  history,  ancient  and  modern,  was  quite  familiar  to 
him.  Works  of  taste  and  genius  he  delighted  to  peruse,  and  by  them  he 
felt  his  mind  relieved  after  severe  study  ;  but  never  did  he  devote  to  them 
aught  of  the  time  which  was  claimed  by  more  serious  engagements,  or 
contract  by  them  a  disrelish  for  mental  occupation  of  a  graver  cast.  So 
admiiable  was  the  intellectual  discipline  which  he  maintained,  that 
lighter  scenes  and  feelings  were  not  suffered  to  distract  his  attention  in 
serious  enquiry,  but  were  employed  as  stimulants  in  the  ways  of  wisdom. 
It  was  a  circumstance  which  beautifully  characterized  his  spirit  and 
manner  as  a  scholar,  that  amidst  his  own  acquirements  he  maintained  uni- 
form modesty,  and  delighted  to  do  justice  to  the  talents  and  attainments 
of  others.  No  jealousy  or  envy  wrought  in  his  breast,  and  so  far  from 
courting  opportunities  for  displaying  his  research,  his  aim  was  mildly  to 


Xll  MEMOIR  OF   DR.   LAWSON 

instruct  or  encourage  others  to  be  diligent.  It  is  easy  to  see  with  what 
effect  from  the  lips  of  such  a  man  that  counsel  would  come,  which  is  so 
needful  in  associations  of  youth, — *  Let  us  not  be  desirous  of  vain  glory, 
provoking  one  another,  en\7ing  one  another.'  To  excite  emulation,  and 
yet  to  maintain  humility  and  brotherly  kindness,  requires  the  utmost 
skill  of  a  religious  instructor. 

As  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  it  was  his  great  object  to  make  his  people 
stand  complete  in  all  the  will  of  God,  and  for  this  purpose  he  expounded 
the  Scriptures  in  a  manner  clear,  lively,  and  attractive.  He  could  avail 
himself  of  the  stores  of  his  mind  with  the  greatest  readiness,  to  illustrate 
and  enforce  their  various  lessons ;  and  places  of  the  Bible  which  are  some- 
times passed  by  as  too  abstruse  for  the  comprehension  of  the  people,  or 
too  barren  for  utility,  he  delighted  to  open  up,  and  to  bring  forth  the  gold 
treasured  in  them.  Eegarding  *  all  Scripture  as  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  as  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction  and  for  in- 
struction in  righteousness,'  he  laboured  so  to  expound  it  *  that  the  man 
of  God  might  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  for  all  good  works.' 

In  his  ministry  he  showed  admirable  skill  in  improving  remarkable 
dispensations  of  Providence,  whether  of  a  public  or  a  private  character; 
he  always  selected  some  text  appropriate  to  such  occasions,  and  illustra- 
tions suited  to  console  or  to  impress.  In  a  congregation  in  the  neigbour- 
liood,  some  confusion  and  alarm  had  been  excited  by  the  sliding  of  one 
of  the  beams  of  the  gallery  of  the  chapel,  which  was  much  crowded,  it 
being  the  day  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Most  happily, 
no  lives  were  lost.  Next  day  he  preached  on  that  text,  '  And  David  w^as 
displeased  because  the  Lord  had  made  a  breach  upon  Uzzah,'  in  which 
discourse  he  showed  in  a  solemn  and  striking  manner  how  much  we  owed 
to  the  Divine  patience  in  these  slighter  tokens  of  his  hand;  how  deserving 
we  were  of  much  severer  blows ;  and  that,  instead  of  murmurs,  the  voice 
of  gratitude  and  praise  became  us,  to  Him  who  in  wrath  remembers 
mercy. 

On  one  occasion  an  alarm  was  excited  during  public  worship,  that  his 
own  chapel  was  falling ;  and  in  the  agitation  and  tumult  produced  by  it 
there  was  great  danger  of  serious  injury,  and  even  of  the  loss  of  life.  Next 
Lord's  day  he  preached  on  that  text,  'Unless the  Lord  had  been  my  help, 
my  soul  had  almost  dwelt  in  silence.'  Incidents  of  this  kind  are  some- 
times permitted  to  occur,  to  teach  us  to  serve  God  with  fear,  and  to  wor- 
ship under  the  impi-essions  of  eternity. 

After  the  fall  of  a  wall  in  Selkirk,  by  which  several  persons  were  se- 
verely hurt,  he  preached  on  the  Sabbath  following  on  1  Kings  xx.  30, — 
*  But  the  rest  fled  to  Aphek,  into  the  city ;  and  there  a  wall  fell  upon 
twenty  and  seven  thousand  of  the  men  that  were  left.'  This  passage  of 
Scripture  was  admirably  adapted  to  teach  his  hearers  to  feel  what  they 
owed  to  the  patience  of  God  in  sending  visitations  of  calamity  so  lenient 
in  comparison  of  what  he  had  sent,  or  could  send;  and  to  impress  upon 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XIU 

them  this  truth —that  in  scenes  where  they  may  think  they  have  found 
a  refuge  from  His  anger,  he  may  make  them  monuments  of  his  power  to 
destroy. 

At  the  opening  of  a  new  church  in  Lauder,  the  subject  of  his  discouri^e 
was  Ploseaviii.  14,  first  cLause,—' Israel  hath  forgotten  his  Maker  and 
builded  temples.'  It  is  a  most  necessary  caution  which  these  words  sug- 
gest to  men  in  all  ages,  not  to  consider  the  zeal  wdiich  they  manifest  for 
the  forms  of  religion,  or  the  peculiarities  of  a  party,-as  a  sure  test  of  the 
love  and  the  fear  of  God.  It  has  been  in  the  lowest  decline  of  piety  that 
the  most  magnificent  edifices  have  been  reared  for  its  worship;  audit 
was  the  hypocritical  and  rapacious  Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  built  the 
tombs  of  the  prophets,  and  garnished  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous. 
•  I  shall  only  mention  as  another  instance  of  the  singular  felicity  with 
which  he  selected  appropriate  texts  to  particular  occasions,  and  derived 
suitable  and  striking  lesssons  from  passages  which  to  many  w^oukl  have 
seemed  to  suggest  nothing  suited  to  their  purpose,  that  at  an  election  of 
elders  his  text  was  Prov.  xxvi.  6,—*  He  that  sendeth  a  message  by  the 
hand  of  a  fool  cutteth  off  the  feet,  and  drinketh  damage.'  This  is  a 
passage  which  teaches  very  strikingly  the  mischiefs  which  may  arise 
from  entrusting  duties  of  importance  to  the  management  of  those  whose 
indiscretion  may  divulge  what  ought  to  be  kept  secret;  whose  rashness 
may  render  useless  the  best  plans  for  utility;  and  whose  simplicity  may 
be  imposed  on  by  every  fair  pretense. 

It  should  be  mentioned  as  a  peculiar  character  of  his  ministry,  the 
amplitude,  particularity,  and  earnestness  with  which  he  discoursed  on 
relative  duties.  Some  hearers  of  the  Gospel  are  unwilling  to  have  topics 
discussed  which  expose  their  negligence,  or  their  severity;  and  would 
wish  sermons  occupied  with  subjects  more  general  and  soothing;  but 
every  wise  and  good  man  must  feel  that  a  just  idea  of  the  extent  and 
value  of  relative  duties  is  of  the  utmost  necessity  to  the  happiness  of 
families,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  religion  from  age  to  age.  Deficiencies 
in  such  duties  he  exposed  and  rebuked  with  no  sparing  hand ;  and  fidelity 
he  encouraged  by  the  examples  of  the  holy  men  of  old,  and  by  the  beauti- 
ful pictures  which  he  drew  of  the  filial  piety  by  which  a  father  was 
cheered  in  the  decline  of  his  days,  and  of  the  consolations  and  hopes  which 
were  mingled  with  the  tears  shed  by  it  at  a  mother's  grave. 

In  the  more  private  duties  of  the  pastoral  oflfice  he  was  diligent  and 
faithful.  In  such  duties  he  whose  delight  is  in  popular  applause  and 
public  display  feels  no  interest,  and  either  neglects  them,  or  hurries  over 
them  in  a  cold  and  formal  manner ;  but  a  man  of  God  feels  that  they  call 
him  to  the  most  solemn  intercourse  he  can  have  with  his  people,  and  that 
in  the  lowliest  dwelling  there  is  an  eye  which  marks  his  feelings,  and  an 
ear  which  listens  to  his  counsels,  infinitely  more  important  than  the  no- 
tice of  the  multitude.     A  good  nian's  heart  is  poured  out  in  him,  when  he 


XIV  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSON 

thinks  on  his  leading  the  orphan  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  making  the 
widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

It  was  his  custom  when  visiting  his  congregation,  to  ask  the  head  of 
each  family,  what  was  the  chapter  last  read  at  family  worship.  What- 
ever was  the  chapter,  he  proceeded  immediately,  without  asking  for  a 
Bible,  to  comment  on  it,  and  apply  it  to  the  circumstances  of  the  family. 
A  general  descant  on  religion  will  excite  little  interest,  but  when  the 
members  of  a  family  are  addressed  in  a  mode  suited  to  their  age,  habits, 
employments,  and  prospects,  it  is  felt  that  a  word  spoken  in  season  is  like 
apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver. 

In  his  examinations,  he  paid  particular  attention  to  the  instruction  of 
the  young;  and  in  his  manner  there  was  a  happy  union  of  gravity  and 
sweetness,  fitted  to  excite  love  and  awe.  Gravity  alone  may  terrify,  but  it 
will  not  win ;  and  petulance  may  be  encouraged  by  an  unwise  familiarity. 
'The  young  kept  silence  at  his  counsel,  and  the  light  of  his  countenance 
they  cast  not  down.' 

He  did  what  he  could  to  establish  meetings  for  social  prayer  through- 
out his  congregation  ;  and  in  this  pious  labour  he  would  encourage  them 
by  such  assurances  of  holy  advantage  as  these, — 'As  ointment  and  per- 
fume rejoice  the  heart,  so  doth  the  sweetness  of  a  man's  friend  by  hearty 
counsel:'  and  'If  any  two  of  you  shall  agree  as  to  any  thing  that  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.' 

In  visiting  the  sick  he  was  regular  and  faithful ;  and,  whatever  was  the 
disease,  he  never  shrunk  from  his  duty.  In  a  letter  to  a  young  friend 
who  had  asked  his  advice  on  the  subject,  he  says,  *I  always  felt  it  my 
duty  to  visit  the  sick  although  their  diseases  were  infectious.  There  is 
little  danger  of  infection  in  so  short  a  visit  as  is  proper  in  such  cases,  and 
precautions  against  danger  may  be  used.  We  are  always  safest  in  the 
path  of  duty,  and  God  is  a  powerful  preserver.'  While  the  kindness  of 
his  disposition  made  the  task  of  consoling  and  encouraging  delightful,  he 
was  fearful  of  saying  peace  when  there  was  none,  and  judged  it  safest  to 
urge  immediate  and  penitential  application  to  the  grace  of  the  Saviour; 
and  to  point  out  the  strong  consolation  and  the  certain  safety  of  those 
who  'flee  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them.'  It  is  more 
gratifying  to  witness  in  such  scenes  the  tears  of  penitence  than  flights  of 
rapture;  and  the  soul  longing  for  God's  salvation,  rather  than  exultation 
in  its  attainment.  The  dullness  of  hearing  under  which  he  laboured  for 
a  number  of  years  kept  him  from  receiving  many  communications  from 
the  sick  and  dying  as  to  their  religious  experience;  but  there  were  some 
cases  in  which  Providence  made  known  to  him  what  Christ  had  wrought 
by  him,  as  an  instrument  of  his  grace,  to  make  sinners  obedient  by  heart 
and  word  and  deed.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving  from  some  of 
the  sick  and  dying,  testimonies  to  the  power  of  his  ministry  in  their  con- 
version to  God,  their  light  in  perplexity,  their  encouragement  in  duty, 
and  their  hope  in  aflliction.     These  are  precious  testimonies  which  do  not 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XV 

flatter,  but  encourage;  which  do  not  puflf  up,  but  solemnize;  and  the 
scene  in  which  they  are  given,  associates  them  with  the  day  of  judgment, 
when  the  seals  of  our  ministry  shall  rise  up  and  call  us  blessed ;  and  when 
Christ  shall  rejoice  with  us  in  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  the  efficacy  of 
his  grace. 

In  other  places  where  he  occasionally  ministered,  God  sometimes  gave 
testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace.  I  may  mention  an  instance  of  this. 
A  man  in  G who  lived  without  even  a  profession  of  religion,  hap- 
pened to  hear  him  preach.  A  sentence  to  this  effect,  that '  persons  in  a 
Christian  land  who  neglect  the  Gospel  must  be  more  guilty  and  wretched 
than  heathens,'  struck  him  to  the  heart:  he  regularly  attended  public 
worship  ever  after,  connected  himself  with  the  church,  and  maintained 
to  his  death  the  character  of  a  consistent  and  pious  man. 

After  the  death  of  the  eminently  learned  and  pious  Professor  John 
Brown  of  Haddington,  he  was  appointed  his  successor  as  Professor  of 
Theology,  by  the  Associate  Synod  in  1787.    Institutions  of  this  kind  may 
seem  to  some  to  have  their  most  proper  seat  in  large  cities,  where  stu- 
dents may  have  it  in  their  power  to  attend  to  other  branches  of  educa- 
tion, which  may  be  necessary  accomplishments  in  a  public  Teacher;  but 
in  such  a  sequestered  situation  as  Selkirk  their  attention  is  concentrated 
on  Theology,  and  there  they  are  more  intimately  associated  than  they 
could  be  in  a  wider  sphere.     An  intercourse  is  maintained  highly  friendly 
to  improvement,  and  friendships  are  formed  which  become  a  blessing  for 
life.     Many  of  the  young  men  once  under  his  care,  have  looked  back  on 
the  associations  of  their  early  days  with  delight,  when  'as  iron  sharpeneth 
iron,  so  doth  a  man  sharpen  the  countenance  of  his  friend.'     And  though 
virtue  should  be  guarded  by  the  impression  of  the  inspection  of  a  brighter 
eye,  and  the  account  to  be  given  to  a  higher  tribunal  than  any  Avhich 
men  occupy,  yet  the  idea  of  the  strict  attention  paid  in  such  a  scene  by 
all  around  to  their  movements,  is  friendly  to  the  formation  of  those  hab- 
its of  caution,  self-denial,  and  strict  propriety  of  conduct,  which  are  so 
necessary  to  the  respectability  and  the  influence  of  the  clerical  character. 
During  the  five  sessions  which  were  the  appointed  course  of  study.  Dr. 
Lawson  gave  an  exposition  of  the  System  of  Theology,  in  lectures  rich 
in  sentiment,  concise  yet  clear  in  language,  and  in  arrangement  most 
judicious.     Deeply  skilled  though  he  was  in  divinity,  he  avoided  all 
technicalities  of  expression,  and  elucidated  the  most  abstruse  points  in  a 
perspicuous  manner.     In  his  prelections,  theology  came  not  forth  in  the 
armour  of  the  schools— dark,  rusty,  and  cumbrous  ;  but  in  the  armour  of 
light— simple,  easy,  and  pointed.     His  critical  lectures  presented  illus- 
trations of  the  dark  passages  of  Scripture,  of  the  customs  and  manners  of 
the  East,  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Sacred  style,  of  the  ancient  versions 
of  the  Scriptures,  of  the  figurative  modes  of  speech  occurring  in  the  Bible, 
of  the  mode  of  illustrating  types  and  explaining  prophecies,  of  the  Holy 
Land  in  its  history  and  productions,  and  of  the  writers,  the  design,  and 


xvi  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  LAWSON 

the  periods  of  writing  of  the  different  parts  of  the  sacred  canon.  It  is 
easy  to  see  what  diligent  and  extensive  research  were  necessary  in  the 
execution  of  such  a  plan,  and  how  great  its  usefulness  must  have  been. 

His  examinations  were  so  happily  managed  as  to  enable  him  to  judge 
of  the  proficiency  of  his  pupils ;  and  his  remarks  on  their  discourses  so 
candid  and  judicious,  as  to  commend  themselves  to  the  approbation  of 
all  who  heard  them.  His  manner  was  marked  by  mild  solemnity,  and 
his  prayers  and  counsels  by  the  unction  of  a  heart  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
His  demeanour  to  them  exhibited  the  happy  medium  betwixt  the  in- 
dulgence which  youth  is  so  apt  to  abuse,  and  the  reserve  it  feels  so  gall- 
ing. In  him  there  was  nothing  of  that  inquisitorial  jealousy  which  has 
led  some  to  pry  into  every  indiscretion ;  or  of  that  sluggishness  which 
never  follows  the  young  beyond  the  precincts  of  their  Seminary.  He 
approved  himself  at  once  as  their  guardian  and  their  father.  He  invited 
them  to  his  house  on  suitable  occasions,  and  made  them  welcome  to  the 
use  of  such  books  in  his  library  as  they  wished  to  consult ;  when  any  of 
them  required  his  counsel,  it  was  given  in  a  manner  the  most  friendly; 
and  when  any  of  them  were  sick,  he  watched  over  them  with  the  solici- 
tude of  a  parent.  When  we  think  on  the  many  young  men  who  have 
been  trained  by  him,  and  who  are  labouring  in  various  places  in  Britain, 
in  Ireland,  and  in  America,  we  feel  it  impossible  to  estimate  the  results 
of  his  instructions,  admonitions,  and  prayers. 

As  a  proof  of  his  great  prudence  in  the  discharge  of  this  office,  it  may 
be  mentioned,  that  on  one  occasion  a  present  was  sent  to  the  library  of 
the  students  of  some  books,  among  which  were  six  copies  of  Paine's  Eights 
of  Man.  This  was  done  at  a  period  when  the  nation  was  agitated  by 
political  speculation ;  and  such  a  gift,  to  such  a  seminary,  was  fitted  to 
poison  the  ardent  minds  of  youth,  and  excite  them  to  disseminate  dis- 
affection over  the  land.  When  he  heard  of  the  arrival  of  such  books,  he 
stated  to  the  students  that  he  could  not  permit  them  to  have  a  place  in 
their  library,  or  to  be  circulated  among  them.  Though  attached  to  lib- 
eral principles,  he  was  unwilling  that  his  students  should  engage  as  dis- 
putants or  partisans  in  the  political  contests  of  the  day.  It  was  in  meek- 
ness, truth,  and  righteousness,  that  he  wished  them  to  go  forth  as  does 
the  Captain  of  salvation.  The  selection  made  by  the  students  of  books 
for  the  library  was  submitted  to  him  for  his  approval;  and  his  opinion 
was  given  so  wisely,  and  so  mildly,  that  when  unfavourable  to  any  book 
it  was  never  resisted.  As  a  proof  of  his  amiable  modesty  it  may  be  men- 
tioned, that  when  any  ministers  venerable  for  age  or  wisdom  visited  the 
institution,  he  urged  them  to  give,  ere  they  went  away,  some  counsels  to 
his  pupils.  I  have  seen  this  done,  at  his  entreaty,  with  much  judgment, 
delicacy,  and  kindness. 

The  interest  felt  by  the  wise  and  pious  of  other  churches  in  the  pros- 
perity of  the  institution  under  his  care  was  sometimes  intimated  to  him 
in  a  very  gratifying  manner.     It  is  with  pleasure  I  select,  as  a  specimen 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XVU 

of  this  interest,  a  letter  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Erskine,  a  man  of  primitive 
sanctity  of  character,  and  distinguished  by  a  profound  and  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  theological  literature,  a  truly  amiable  humility,  and  a 
liberality  of  feeling  which  made  him  regard  Christians  of  every  party  and 
of  every  country  as  his  brethren: — 

Laurieston,  11th  Sept.  1799. 
'  Eev.  Sir, 

Mr.  Ogle  acquainted  me  two  day  ago,  that  my  Ser- 
mons being  out  of  print,  he  wished  I  could  spare  him  two  copies,  and 
particularly  one  for  your  students  who  desired  to  have  it  in  their  library. 
I  informed  him  I  had  only  three  copies,  which  are  intended  for  friends 
at  a  distance.  I  have  since  happily  got  a  copy  in  another  shop,  which  I 
beg  you  will  accept  with  best  wislies  to  you  and  the  young  men  under 
your  care.  I  am,  Eev.  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  Brother  and  Servant, 

JOHN  EKSKINE.' 

In  this  charge  Dr.  Lawson  continued  to  officiate  till  his  death,  with 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  church  with  which  he  was  connected ;  whose 
ministers  and  elders  voted  him,  not  long  before  he  died,  a  present  of  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling,  as  an  expression  of  their  high  estimation  of  his 
services.  In  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  April  1820,  when  his  death  was 
announced,  the  Kev.  Mr.  Greig  of  Lochgelly,  who  had  lived  in  the  most 
intimate  friendship  with  him  for  more  than  fifty  years,  proposed  that  the 
Synod  should  insert  in  their  minutes  an  expression  of  their  high  estima- 
tion of  his  worth  and  services.  It  was  left  to  Mr.  Greig  to  prepare  it,  and 
after  being  read  and  approved  it  was  engrossed  in  their  records,  and  a 
copy  of  it  follows: — 

'In  recording  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lawson,  the  Synod  find  them- 
selves called  on  to  express  in  their  minutes  the  peculiar  and  important 
obligations  which  they  and  the  people  of  their  charge  are  under  to  the 
Head  of  the  church,  for  the  prolonged  and  valuable  services  performed 
by  this  worthy  and  venerable  member  of  their  body  as  their  Professor  of 
Divinity;  to  whom  under  God  most  of  the  ministers  of  this  Synod  are 
much  indebted  for  their  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  and 
their  qualification  for  preaching  it  to  their  fellow  men;  and  the  impres- 
sion of  whose  amiable  and  venerable  character  for  piety,  for  knowledge 
of  the  word  of  God,  for  sacred  literature,  and  for  every  excellence  which 
can  adorn  the  man,  the  Christian,  and  the  Professor  of  Divinity,  they 
wish  ever  to  retain,  and  to  cherish  as  an  excitement  to  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  their  office.' 

How  valuable  is  such  a  tribute  from  such  a  man !  and  still  more  does 
it  appear  so  when  thus  sanctioned.  Of  Mr.  Greig  it  is  but  justice  to  say, 
that  he  was  distinguished  by  uncommon  vigour  of  intellect,  commanding 
energy  as  a  preacher,  great  probity  of  character,  and  by  a  close  walk 
with  God. 

B 


Xviii  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    LAWSON 

It  will  be  felt  as  a  very  interesting  part  of  this  Memoir,  to  state  what 
Dr.  L.  was  in  his  family,  and  as  a  friend.  It  is  most  gratifying  to  his 
family  to  reflect  how  he  'counted  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the 
Lord  and  honourable.'  He  used  to  remark — that  he  would  like  to  see 
the  Jewish  custom  universal,  of  beginning  the  duties  peculiar  to  the 
Sabbath  at  six  o'clock  on  the  Saturday  evening;  and  in  his  own  house 
he  made  it  to  be  devoted  to  books  or  conversation  of  a  serious  cast.  So 
different  was  his  conduct  from  the  common  practice  of  indulging  longer 
in  sleep  on  the  Sabbath  morning  than  on  others,  that  he  rose  earlier,  and 
made  his  family  do  so;  and  his  domestic  instructions  and  prayers  w^ere 
never  hurried  over,  but  discharged  as  a  duty  felt  to  be  pleasing  as  well 
as  solemn.  Of  Fisher^ s  Cafechmn  he  had  a  very  high  opinion,  made  his 
young  people  read  portions  of  it  again  and  again  with  great  care,  and 
meditate  on  them,  and  he  then  examined  them  as  to  their  conceptions 
of  its  meaning,  and  the  impressions  which  it  should  produce.  There  was 
a  circumstance  in  his  family  instruction  which  showed  his  admirable  skill, 
and  which  rendered  it  most  delightful  to  the  young:  with  his  questions 
and  counsels  he  mingled  appropriate  anecdotes,  exhibiting  the  pleasures 
of  religion,  God's  care  of  his  saints,  the  beauty  of  early  piety,  the  hap- 
piness of  the  family  whose  God  is  the  Lord,  how  the  fear  of  God  operates 
as  a  preservative  from  sin,  w^hatGod  has  done  in  honour  of  his  own  day, 
and  what  consolations  and  hopes  the  promises  of  the  Gospel  have  yielded 
in  sickness  and  death. 

The  daily  reading  of  the  Scriptures  was  one  of  his  counsels,  and  also 
to  commit  a  portion  of  them  daily  to  memory.  Texts  of  Scripture  you 
will  find  your  best  wealth;  and  the  judgment,  the  memory,  and  the  heart 
should  be  their  treasury.  One  of  the  schemes  of  doing  good  in  our  day 
has  been,  recommending  the  formation  of  societies,  whose  members  are 
pledged  to  commit  one  verse  of  the  Bible,  or  more,  every  day  to  memory. 
I*erhaps  this  is  giving  too  much  parade  to  an  exercise  of  secret  piety,  but 
the  practice  itself  is  excellently  calculated  to  enrich  the  mind,  to  improve 
conversation,  and  to  guide  the  steps. 

The  conversation  which  he  maintained  in  his  family  was  worthy  of 
his  character  for  wisdom  and  goodness.  While  some  studious  men  have 
maintained  a  gravity  before  their  children  gloomy  and  reserved,  as  if  they 
would  degrade  themselves  by  unbending;  and  while  others  have  indulged 
in  n  playfulness  and  levity  which  lessened  their  authority,  and  produced 
disturbance  in  their  serious  moods,  and  dislike  to  their  solemn  counsels; 
he  opened  the  minds  and  won  the  hearts  of  his  children,  by  appropriate 
anecdotes,  of  which  his  store  was  inexhaustible,  and  his  introduction  most 
happy. 

His  two  sons  whom  he  lived  to  see  ordained  to  the  holy  ministry,  were 
objects  of  his  pious  solicitude  in  th.eir  studies  and  labours.  Many  were 
the  prayers,  counsels,  and  charges  which  he  devoted  to  this  great  object, 
that  they  'might  show  themselves  approved  unto  God,  workmen  that 


AND    Ills   WRITINGS.  XIX 

needed  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.'  It  is  a 
striking  fact,  honourable  to  his  memory,  to  the  judgment  and  feeling  of 
his  congregation,  and  to  the  talents  of  his  sons,  that  they  were  both  called 
to  succeed  their  father  in  his  pastoral  charge. 

He  was  repeatedly  visited  with  bereavements  in  his  family,  and  in  such 
affecting  circumstances  his  piety  was  manifested  in  a  very  interesting 
way.  The  death  of  the  wife  of  his  youth,  and  of  one  of  his  sons  by  his 
second  marriage,  a  most  accomplished  young  man,  and  whose  future 
course  of  piety  and  utility  was  anticipated  in  many  a  fond  hope,  were 
felt  by  him  very  painfully ;  and  over  the  graves  of  other  promising  chil- 
dren he  was  likewise  called  to  mourn.  Some  have  supposed  that  on  men 
devoted  to  study,  such  bereavements  fall  lightly ;  but  by  them  they  are 
felt  with  peculiar  keenness:  while  to  other  losses  they  may  feel  compara- 
tive indifference,  at  the  death  of  friends  their  hearts  bleed  most  profusely. 
Amidst  the  languor  of  study  they  are  cheered  by  their  sprightliness,  or 
cherished  by  their  care ;  to  them  they  cling  with  an  affection  which  is 
never  solicited  by  the  world's  gayeties,  and  which  feels  in  their  removal 
as  if  'the  light  had  become  dark  in  their  tabernacle/  and  that  they  must 
follow  them  in  the  path  to  their  long  home.  I  shall  give  a  few  extracts 
from  some  of  his  letters  after  such  trials,  which  will  be  useful  to  mourners, 
while  they  show  how  deeply  these  were  felt,  and  how  piously  they  were 
improved. 

'The  death  of  children  puts  a  final  period  to  all  that  we  can  do  for 
them,  but  our  grief  on  this  occasion  is  effectually  counterbalanced  by  the 
consciousness  that  we  have  earnestly  endeavoured  to  do  for  them  what 
lay  in  our  power  whilst  they  were  with  us;  especially  when  we  have  good 
reason  to  hope  that  our  prayers  for  them  have  not  been  rejected,  and  that 
Divine  Mercy  led  them  safe  through  life  and  death  to  a  world  from  whence 
they  would  not  for  a  thousand  worlds  return.  I  have  lost  for  the  rest  of 
my  time  in  this  world  some  children  whose  faces  I  always  beheld  with 
pleasure;  but  I  hope,  young  as  they  w^re,  they  were  better  fitted  for 
leaving  this  world  than  I  am.  We  are  authorized  by  Scripture,  without 
expecting  a  revelation  from  God  respecting  their  state,  to  rejoice  in  the 
hope  that  they  are  sleeping  in  Jesus;  and,  living  with  Him,  shall  be 
brought  with  him  at  the  great  day  of  his  appearance,' 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  one  of  his  sons,  in  whose 
house,  and  at  a  distance,  his  sister  was  dying.  When  beloved  friends  in 
distress  are  at  a  distance,  the  heart  is  often  agitated  with  fears,  anxieties, 
and  regrets  which  work  more  painfully  than  if  we  were  near  them.  Fancy, 
strongly  excited,  paints  the  scene  in  darker  colours  than  reality;  and  the 
heart  is  ready  to  repine  that  our  hands  can  take  no  share  in  the  minis- 
trations of  kindness  and  sympathy,  and  that  to  us  their  last  looks  and  to- 
kens of  love  are  denied.  In  the  quotation  which  follows,  resignation 
hath  its  perfect  work  amidst  nature's  strongest  feelings. 

'My  heart  is  grieved  because  you  have  not  been  able  to  give  a  more 


XX  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAAYSON 

favourable  account  of  my  beloved  daughter's  health;  but  I  have  better 
reason  if  possible  than  Eli  to  say,  'It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  seem- 
eth  him  good.'  In  the  threatened  destruction  of  his  two  wicked  sons,  he 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  their  awful  condition  under  the  wrath  of  God. 
I  have  reason  to  hope  that  our  dear  J.  is.  suffering  under  the  hand  of  a 
gracious  Father,  to  make  her  a  partaker  of  his  holiness,  and  to  prepare 
her  for  eternal  happiness.  It  must  give  you  great  pain  to  witness  the 
sufferings  of  a  sister  so  justly  dear  to  you,  but  it  will  give  you  pleasure 
many  days  hence  to  remember  that  you  had  the  opportunity,  and  did  not 
suffer  it  to  pass  unimproved,  of  consoling  her  mind,  and  suggesting  useful 
directions  to  her.  May  God  bless  all  your  endeavours  to  tranquilize  her, 
and  to  prepare  her  for  the  event!' 

After  her  death  he  thus  writes :  '  My  beloved  J.  is  gone  from  the  world, 
but  she  will  never  be  forgotten  by  me  if  I  should  live  a  thousand  years 
twice  told.  I  have  no  cause  for  the  least  reflection  on  any  part  of  her 
behaviour  to  me.  I  wish  I  had  no  cause  for  reflection  on  the  omission 
of  what  I  might  have  done  to  her.  Yet  I  am  conscious  that  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  train  her  up  in  the  way  that  she  should  go,  and  I  trust  that 
my  endeavours  have  not  been  in  vain  in  the  Lord.' 

How  different  is  such  a  spirit  and  such  language  from  that  of  the  an- 
cient heathen  sages  under  such  trials,  in  whom  we  often  see  an  affected 
sturdiness  and  indifference;  or  a  grief,  wild,  audacious,  and  despairing. 
The  following  passage  from  the  Christian  Observer  beautifully  illustrates 
this  statement: — 

'  Quinctilian's  letter  upon  the  death  of  his  two  sons,  one  of  whom  was 
a  youth  highly  accomplished,  and  of  great  promise,  is  beautiful  and 
touching.  But  in  it  he  boasts  of  his  impatience ;  thinks  it  necessary  to 
excuse  himself  for  having  survived  the  stroke;  denies  the  doctrine  of  a 
Divine  superintendence  over  the  affairs  of  men;  accuses  the  gods  of  spite 
and  injustice;  and  says  his  tolerance,  not  his  love  of  life,  will  revenge  his 
son  for  the  rest  of  his  days.  This  was  all  that  his  ethics  could  do  to  calm 
his  mind.  What  will  an  infidel  say  to  such  a  scene  as  contrasted  with 
the  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints?  Will  he  say  that  their  meek  en- 
durance is  the  fruit  of  advanced  philosophy?  Quinctilian  lived  in  an 
age  enlightened  by  literature ;  but  Rome  was  far  behind  Jerusalem  in 
the  sublimities  of  moral  precept,  because  the  true  light  had  not  radiated 
its  horizon.  And  then  see  how  Job  acted,  though  in  a  ruder  age,  and 
surrounded  by  idolatry.  Revelation  cast  a  bright  hue  of  heaven  over  all 
his  sorrows.' 

We  can  only  find  a  place  for  a  few  sentences  from  some  of  his  other 
letters  on  such  occasions.  '  God  is  righteous  in  taking  from  us.  He  is 
merciful  in  sparing  to  us  what  he  has  not  taken.  If  it  had  pleased  God 
to  cut  off"  the  half  of  our  families,  it  would  have  been  our  duty  to  have 
given  him  thanks  that  the  other  half  was  left,  I  bless  God  for  the  hope 
of  seeing  those  whom  I  have  lost,  with  greater  pleasure  than  ever ;  but 


AND    nrS   WRITINGS.  XXI 

[  have  still  more  reason  to  bless  him  for  the  gift  of  his  own  Son  to  such 
unworthy  creatures  as  I  am,  that  through  faith  in  Him  I  may  liave  ever- 
lasting life.  J.  M.  has  been  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  derangement. 
This  must  give  great  distress  to  his  wife ;  and  yet  to  be  the  wife  of  a  pious 
man  under  this  sore  affliction  is  a  less  evil  than  to  be  placed  in  a  like 
rchition  to  a  man  who  wants  the  fear  of  God,  whatever  other  recommen- 
dations he  may  possess.  Insanity  will  not,  like  unregeneracy,  exclude 
from  the  kingdom  of  God.' 

AVhile  he  cherished  kindly  feelings  to  all  the  ministers  of  the  church 
with  which  he  was  connected,  there  were  some  of  them  with  whom  he 
cultivated  a  special  friendship.  With  Mr.  Greig  of  Lochgelly  he  main- 
tained a  frequent  correspondence  by  letters,  from  their  first  acquaintance 
while  studying  divinity,  till  his  death.  Such  correspondence  would  be 
deemed  very  valuable  by  all  that  knew  the  men,  from  the  views  it  would 
give  of  many  important  topics,  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  of  the  state 
of  religion  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  writing  to  one  of  his  sons  he  says,  *  Our  chief  pleasure  as  ministers 
should  be  in  doing  good,  and  in  the  conscientious  use  of  the  means  of 
doing  good.  It  can  give  little  pleasure  to  any  man  of  consideration  to 
be  valued  more  than  he  deserves,  and  it  need  not  give  us  great  pain  to  be 
despised.  Or  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  men,  if  we  are  conscious  of  en- 
deavouring to  perform  the  duties  which  we  owe  them.  I  have  no  hope 
of  ever  seeing  you  or  your  brethren  at  K.  I  have  had  my  time  in  which 
I  was  happy  to  visit  distant  friends,  but  every  thing  in  this  world  has  its 
end.  Let  your  brethren  know  that  I  am  glad  to  hear  of  their  prosperity, 
and  of  their  endeavours  to  perform  faithful  service  to  Christ  and  to  their 
people.  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  more  than  I  have 
done  to  prepare  them  for  usefulness,  but  to  supply  my  defects  I  hope  that 
they  will  be  daily  learners  at  the  school  of  Paul,  or  rather  of  Christ;  and 
that  they  will  treasure  up  in  their  minds  the  epistles  of  Timothy  and 
Titus,  which  are  epistles  from  Christ  to  all  ministers  who  are  called  to 
labour  in  His  service.' 

With  some  ministers  of  the  Established  church  in  his  neighbourhood 
he  lived  on  terms  of  friendly  intimacy.  •  By  Dr.  Douglas,  who  was  Min- 
ister of  Galashiels  for  more  than  fifty  years,  a  man  of  great  good  sense 
and  public  spirit,  and  by  Dr.  Hardie,  Minister  of  Ashkirk,  an  accom- 
plished scholar,  and  an  amiable  man,  he  was  beloved  and  respected.  On 
various  occasions,  and  particularly  when  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity 
was  conferred  on  him  by  the  Marischal  College  of  Aberdeen,  they  bore 
the  most  ample  testimony  to  the  piety  of  his  character,  and  to  the  un- 
common extent  of  his  attainments  in  literature.  It  is  while  merit  is  as- 
sociated with  modesty  that  its  claims  are  most  readily  admitted ;  and  it 
is  when  it  is  vain-glorious  and  overbearing  that  it  is  decried  and  opposed. 
Living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sir  AValter  Scott,  Dr.  Lawson  was  no 
stranger  to  the  benevolence  and  kindness  of  his  disposition,  the  stores  of 


XXU  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSON 

his  mind,  and  tlie  power  of  his  fancy;  yet  amidst  the  admiration  which 
he  felt  for  a  genius  which  has  shed  such  lustre  over  the  literature  of  his 
country,  and  given  to  the  place  of  his  abode  attractions  which  will  exist 
to  the  latest  age,  he  showed  no  solicitude  to  engage  his  notice.  The  only 
time  he  ever  was  in  his  company  was  when  Prince  Leopold  was  passing 
through  Selkirk,  on  which  occasion  Sir  Walter  was  the  person  who  intro- 
duced him  to  the  Prince,  and  mentioned  to  a  friend  afterwards  that  the 
interview  was  a  very  affecting  one.  The  hospitalities  of  Abbotsford 
would  neither  have  accorded  wdth  the  state  of  his  health,  nor  his  habits 
of  seclusion ;  and  he  would  have  considered  it  as  a  waste  of  time,  and  an 
act  of  injustice,  to  have  frequented  scenes  where  he  could  neither  give, 
nor  receive  enjoyment.  He  admired  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works,  and  had 
read  with  interest  all  that  he  had  published  previous  to  the  first  series  of 
'Tales  of  my  Landlord.'  Before  he  had  an  opportunity  of  examining 
that  book,  Dr.  M'Crie's  review  came  in  his  way,  which  influenced  him 
so  much  that  he  would  not  read  it.  Some  of  the  members  of  his  family 
thought  that  he  had  imbibed  a  worse  opinion  of  the  book  from  the  pas- 
sages quoted,  than  he  would  if  he  had  read  the  whole.  So  keenly  did  he 
feel  the  injustice  which  he  thought  had  been  done  to  the  Covenanters, 
and  so  strongly  was  he  impressed  with  the  dishonour  brought  on  the  spirit 
of  piety  by  the  ludicrous  manner  in  which  its  feelings  and  language  were 
portrayed,  that  not  all  the  beauty  and  wit  by  which  the  work  is  charac- 
terized could  keep  him  from  thinking  of  it  with  horror.  There  were 
various  circumstances  in  his  situation  which  led  him  to  feel  a  peculiar 
regard  for  the  memory  of  these  worthies.  The  writings  of  the  puritanical 
divines,  which  he  regarded  as  stores  of  wisdom,  were  his  favourite  study; 
in  the  religious  body  with  which  he  was  connected,  high  importance  is 
attached  to  the  Covenants  and  to  the  struggles  connected  with  them ; 
their  Testimonyhrenthes  an  ardent  zeal  against  all  violence  to  principle  and 
conscience ;  and  the  vicinity  of  Philiphaugh,  w4iere  Montrose  was  de- 
feated by  Leslie,  to  the  place  of  his  residence,  and  the  traditions  current 
in  the  neighbourhood  as  to  the  battle  and  its  results,  were  all  adapted  to 
strengthen  his  interest  in  the  faithful  of  the  land  at  that  period,  and  his 
displeasure  at  every  attempt  to  degrade  them. 

Feeling,  as  we  do,  a  very  high  veneration  for  the  memory  of  the  Cove- 
nanters, we  have  regretted  that  Sir  Walter  Scott  should  have  degraded 
his  genihs,  by  representations  calculated  to  bring  ridicule  and  odium  on 
some  of  them,  as  coarse  in  their  manners,  sticklers  for  trifles,  and  de- 
lighting in  tumult;  but  it  was  by  his  political  prejudices  that  his  judg- 
ment was  warped.  The  time  is  gone  when  the  flatteries  of  monarchs  had 
power  to  charm ;  the  exposure  of  their  follies  is  more  agreeable  to  the 
taste  of  the  day ;  the  vail  which  charity  would  draw  is  torn  in  pieces  by 
the  rude  hand  of  vulgar  abuse;  and  the  attempt  to  deck  the  characters 
of  Charles  and  Claverhouse  with  qualities  to  which  they  had  no  claim, 
has  tended  to  sharpen  the  exposure  of  their  wickedness.     But  it  ought 


AND   HIS    WRITINGS.  Xxiii 

to  be  remembered  what  justice  Sir  Walter  has  done  to  the  Covenanters 
in  his  subsequent  volumes;  how  he  has  exhibited  some  of  them  as  rising 
to  the  highest  attainments  in  moral  worth  ;  distinguished  by  all  that  is 
amiable  in  female  character;  exemplifying  a  generosity  of  the  noblest  or- 
der; and  maintaining  their  integrity  unshaken  amidst  the  severest  trials 
of  human  virtue.  The  power  of  moral  principle  manifested  by  him  in 
the  sacrifices  and  the  exertions  which  he  made  for  the  payment  of  debt, 
contracted  by  becoming  responsible  for  others,  entitle  him  to  a  high  place 
in  the  memory  of  the  just.  While  genius  and  patriotism  strike  their  harps 
at  his  tomb,  let  not  piety  hang  hers  on  the  willows  ;  but  let  it  touch  it  to 
the  praise  of  the  Father  of  lights — of  Him  in  whose  hand  it  is  to  make 
great — of  the  righteous  Lord  who  loves  righteousness,  and  whose  mercy 
endureth  for  ever. 

There  were  circumstances  in  the  conduct  of  his  friends  in  which  ad- 
monition seemed  to  Dr.  L.  necessary,  and  the  following  letter  written  to 
a  lady  of  his  acquaintance  who  had  married  a  French  Officer,  a  Catholic, 
shows  with  what  fidelity  and  delicacy  he  could  give  it: — 

'  I  wished  to  call  upon  you  before  you  left  Selkirk  for  a  foreign  coun- 
try. Indisposition  was  one  of  the  causes  that  hindered  me ;  now  I  be- 
lieve it  is  too  late,  I  therefore  bid  you  farewell  by  a  few  lines. 

'You  know  the  reason  for  which  I  was  dissatisfied  with  your  marriage, 
but  I  heartily  approve  of  your  following  the  husband  you  have  chosen, 
were  he  to  go  to  the  end  of  the  world.  The  difference  of  your  religion 
from  his  is  so  far  from  being  a  reason  why  you  should  not  fulfil  every 
duty  as  a  wife,  that  it  furnishes  a  strong  argument  for  endeavouring  to 
fulfil  them  in  perfection,  that  you  may  adorn  your  profession. 

*  Your  husband,  I  hope,  is  too  generous  and  too  reasonable  to  wish  you 
to  change  your  religion  unless  you  are  convinced  of  its  being  false.  He 
v/ould  certainly  rather  wish  you  to  be  honest  in  the  profession  of  a  religion 
which  he  may  esteem  erroneous,  than  a  hypocrite  in  the  profession  of  a 
religion  which  he  esteems  to  be  true. 

'You  will,  however,  meet  with  temptations  to  the  change  of  that  good 
religion  which  you  learned  from  your  worthy  father ;  but  I  hope  you  will 
attend  to  the  Bible,  and  pray  daily  for  the  enlightening  and  establishing 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  you  may  be  kept  from  falling.  You  know 
the  sentence  pronounced  against  all  who  are  ashamed  of  Christ  and  of  his 
words;  and  against  all  who  love  any  earthly  friends,  or  even  their  own 
life,  more  than  Christ.  Mark  viii.  88.    Luke  xiv.  25-27. 

*I  pray  that  you  may  always  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  a  good  conscience; 
that,  whether  present  or  absent,  you  may  be  accepted  of  God;  and  that 
He  may  make  you  the  delight  of  your  husband  and  friends  while  you  are 
in  the  world.' 

The  humility  this  letter  manifests  is  truly  amiable.  It  discovers  not 
the  least  working  of  that  irritation  which  many  would  have  shown  at  the 
disregard  of  their  opinion  as  to  the  impropriety  of  the  connection;  and 


XXIV  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSOX 

while  it  brings  forward  the  highest  motives  to  stability  in  her  profession, 
it  points  to  the  lessons  of  a  father's  piety,  as  what  might  counteract  the 
influence  of  her  new  connexion  in  recommending  an  opposite  creed.  If 
the  husband  was  a  man- of  a  liberal  spirit,  the  generous  and  enlightened 
character  of  this  letter  would  give  him  a  favourable  impression  of  the 
candour  and  Christian  charity  of  the  writer. 

In  a  letter  written  to  a  nephew  who  had  engaged  in  a  sea-faring  life, 
there  are  many  excellent  counsels.  Our  limits  permit  us  to  give  only  a 
few  extracts ;  the  whole  letter  discovers  a  great  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  character,  and  it  is  employed  to  give  effect  to  the  most  whole- 
some admonitions: — 

'I  hear  that  you  have  made  choice  of  a  sea-faring  life.  I  hope  you 
will  find  that  our  God  is  the  God  of  the  sea  as  well  as  of  the  dry  land. 
Those  who  go  down  to  the  sea,  and  do  business  in  the  great  waters,  see 
his  works  and  his  wonders  in  the  deep ;  and  often  find  reason  to  thank 
him  for  signal  deliverances  from  perils  of  great  waters.  It  was  surpris- 
ing, that  Jonah  should  ever  think  of  fleeing  away  in  a  ship  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord ;  but  his  eyes  were  soon  opened,  and  he  received  a 
chastisement  which  brought  him  down  to  the  belly  of  hell,  and  got  an 
unexpected  deliverance  which  made  him  an  eminent  type  of  our  great 
Redeemer. 

'  Your  life  may  sometimes  be  exposed  to  alarming  danger,  but  the 
knowledge  that  this  may  often  be  the  case  will,  I  hope,  be  useful  to  you. 
Boast  not  of  to-morrow,  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth. 
This  may  be  said  of  us  who  remain  on  the  dry  land  as  well  as  you  ;  yet 
seamen  are  still  more  inexcusable  than  other  men,  if  they  do  not  remem- 
ber a  lesson  so  loudly  proclaimed  by  the  raging  waves,  and  the  roaring 
wind ;  and  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  enjoy  peace  in  their  minds,  unless 
they  endeavour  so  to  behave  in  the  course  of  their  lives  as  they  would 
have  wished  to  have  done,  when  they  see  themselves  carried  up  by  one 
wave  to  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  ready  to  be  plunged  into  the  bosom 
of  the  ocean  by  the  next. 

'  I  hope  the  grace  of  God  will  preserve  you  from  imitating  any  of  the 
bad  examples  that  may  be  set  before  you  by  your  companions.  It  has 
been  the  unhappiness  of  many  of  them,  that  they  have  not  received  an 
education  fitted  to  preserve  them  from  yielding  to  the  temptations  to  which 
they  may  be  exposed;  but  you  have  been  taught  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and 
in  you  it  will  be  more  criminal  to  practise  wicked  deeds  with  them  that 
work  iniquity.' 

He  then  warns  him  against  being  influenced  by  the  fear  of  ridicule,  to 
yield  to  the  solicitations  of  sinners,  or  to  neglect  religious  duties ;  and 
against  that  brutish  folly  into  which  sea-faring  men  are  so  apt  to  rush  in 
scenes  of  relaxation  after  a  long  period  of  restraint  and  toil.  He  sug- 
gests this  as  one  of  the  best  maxims  for  the  regulation  of  the  conduct, 
not  to  do  what  may  please  us  for  the  moment,  but  what  may  please  us 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XXV 

afterwards;  and  inculcates  dependence  on  divine  grace,  and  frequent 
prayer  for  it,  as  the  best  means  of  comfort  and  of  moral  security. 

There  is  another  letter  which  amply  deserves  a  place  in  this  sketch  on 
account  of  its  wisdom  and  amiable  sympathy,  and  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  the  worthy  man  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Mr.  Young  had 
been  a  fellow  student,  and  was  called  to  minister  at  Newtown  in  his 
neighbourhood.  While  going  through  his  trials  for  ordination  he  fell 
into  such  a  state  of  nervous  agitation  and  despondence,  that  when  the 
day  for  that  service  arrived,  he  could  not  be  induced  to  submit  to  be  or- 
dained. I  have  heard  him  speak  with  much  feeling  of  the  considerate 
mildness  and  pity  with  which  he  was  treated  by  the  venerable  Mr.  Brown 
of  Haddington  on  that  occasion  ;  of  the  zeal  with  which  he  defended  him 
from  the  harsh  remarks  of  some  disposed  to  judge  him  with  severity;  and 
of  the  solemn  admonitions  addressed  by  him  in  a  sermon  he  was  requested 
to  preach  to  the  congregation  ere  they  were  dismissed.  Mr.  Young  was 
soon  after  ordained  at  Kincardine,  and  led  there  for  a  long  period  a  holy, 
useful,  and  contented  life.  In  old  age  his  mind  again  became  clouded; 
he  resigned  his  charge,  retired  with  his  ftimily  to  Edinburgh,  and  after 
labouring  for  some  time  under  the  dark  impressions  of  a  disordered  in- 
tellect, he  entered  into  peace. 

It  would  be  most  foolish  and  unjust  to  charge  this  gloom  on  religion; 
it  arose  from  a  constitutional  tendency;  and  in  marking  his  condition 
there  is  far  more  reason  for  wonder  that  his  long  course  in  the  ministry 
was  so  steady  and  cheerful,  amidst  difficulties  which  might  have  shaken 
firmer  minds,  than  that  its  close  should  have  been  darkened  by  morbid 
anxiety  and  gloomy  forebodings. 

The  letter  was  written  to  him  when  Dr.  L.  had  heard  of  the  disturbed 
state  of  his  mind,  and  its  tone  of  pity  and  friendship  is  very  soothing. 
Such  a  state  of  mind  is  too  often  treated  roughly  by  the  vigorous,  the 
tranquil,  and  the  gay:  and  often  are  its  aberrations  and  tremours  made 
the  subject  of  ridicule:  but  Dr.  L.  felt,  that  while  the  spirit  of  a  man  un- 
broken may  sustain  his  infirmity,  a  v»'ounded  spirit  who  can  bear?  He 
expostulated  with  him  in  holy  kindness,  laboured  to  restore  his  soul  by 
wise  counsel,  and  left  him  to  the  mercy  of  Him  who  will  not  break  the 
bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax: — 

'As  I  have  seldom  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  you  for  many  years 
back,  I  take  this  opportunity  of  putting  you  in  mind,  that  by  the  long- 
suflfering  of  God  I  still  continue  in  the  world,  and  may  derive  much 
benefit  from  your  prayers,  I  am  not  what  I  once  was,  yet  through  God's 
mercy  I  possess  many  comforts,  and  that  cheerfulness  of  spirit  which  be- 
comes creatures  to  whom  He  is  so  indulgent. 

'It  gives  me  pain  to  hear  that  a  man  of  your  good  sense,  and  one  with 
whom  the  credit  of  religion  is  materially  concerned,  from  the  good  opin- 
ion entertained  of  you  as  a  Christian  and  a  minister,  should  groan  under 
disquieting  thoughts  concerning  your  future  allotment  from  the  hand  of 


XXVI  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    LAWSON 

God.  Do  you  not  remember  the  pleasant  doctrine  that  you  have  taught 
from  your  youth  up.  You  surely  would  not  for  the  whole  world  have  it 
thought  that  you  call  in  question  the  exceeding  riches  of  the  grace  of 
God,  who  sent  his  Son  to  die  that  we  might  live.  I  hope  you  will  follow 
the  example  of  David,  who  did  what  he  could  to  dispel  all  gloomy  thoughts 
from  the  mind,  by  turning  his  thoughts  to  the  excellency  of  the  mercy 
of  God;  the  wonderful  works  which  he  did  in  the  days  of  old;  and  the 
sure  word  of  God.  Your  Bible  is  much  larger  than  his,  and  brighter  and 
iweeter  is  the  light  which  flows  from  Him  who  came  to  heal  the  broken 
hearted. 

*I  would  be  much  dejected  were  my  thoughts  always  to  dwell  on  my- 
self, but,  through  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  grace  reigns  to  eternal  life, 
and  in  Him  it  finds  all  that  justice  can  demand  from  the  believing  sin- 
ner. I  will  therefore  hope  in  Christ ;  and  as  a  penitent  malefactor  once 
said, — No  man  ever  perished  with  his  face  turned  to  the  cross  of  Jesus. 
The  God  of  all  comfort  will,  I  hope,  In  due  time  drive  away  every  gloomy 
thought  from  your  mind.  For  your  friends'  sake,  for  your  own  sake,  for 
Christ's  sake,  look  in  humble  hope  to  the  Saviour,  and  may  you  be  en- 
abled to  glorify  God  by  a  cheerful  reliance  on  his  rich  mercy  in  Christ 
Jesus.' 

In  looking  over  a  number  of  his  letters  to  his  correspondents,  it  was 
delightful  to  mark  with  what  simplicity  and  beauty  the  amiable  quali- 
ties of  his  character  are  manifested,  without  the  least  solicitude  or  art. 
In  some  of  them  he  expresses  his  gratitude  for  any  attention  or  kindness 
shown  to  himself  or  to  any  of  his  family.  Some  good  men  have  thought 
it  testified  their  piety  to  keep  earthly  benefiictors  out  of  view,  and  to  say 
that  they  looked  not  in  gratitude  to  them,  but  to  the  Father  of  mercies. 
To  him  undoubtedly  our  eyes  should  be  first  and  constantly  directed,  but 
the  instruments  of  his  bounty  deserve  our  regard.  And  while  some  have 
acknowledged  kindnesses  in  a  manner  savouring  too  much  of  the  spirit  of 
the  world,  his  thanks  were  given  in  simplicity  and  in  godly  sincerity, 
and  in  a  mode  which  evinced  that  he  felt  in  their  complacency,  that  God 
was  lifting  on  him  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  that  their  favours 
were  put  by  Him  into  their  hands  to  bestow. 

In  some  of  them  we  find  him  pleading  the  cause  of  the  blind,  the  dis- 
eased, or  the  infirm,  with  those  who  were  able  to  assist  them.  He  docs 
this  in  a  tone  which  shows  that  he  remembered  them  that  suffered  ad- 
versity as  being  himself  also  in  the  body ;  and  the  allusions  which  he 
makes  to  the  cross,  and  to  the  grace  of  Jesus,  show  that  his  compassion 
was  excited  by  a  divine  impulse. 

He  makes,  in  his  letters,  some  beautiful  allusions  to  the  friends  and 
the  scenes  of  his  youth  ;  and  though  many  years  had  elapsed  since  some 
of  them  had  gone  down  to  the  grave,  his  heart  kindles  on  the  remem- 
brance of  their  kindness,  their  genius,  and  their  piety.  Fancy  brings 
back  to  the  tender  heart  friends  long  since  gone,  in  smiles  sweeter  than 


AND    HIS   WRITINGS.  XXVll 

any  the  face  ever  wore,  and  in  acquirements  brightening  as  they  rise 
from  the  darkness  of  the  grave:—*  Never  was  any  man  blessed  with  friend- 
ships more  delightful  or  moro  useful  than  myself.  David  himself  had 
not  more  reason  to  rejoice  in  his  pleasant  brother  Jonathan,  than  you 
and  I  have  to  rejoice  in  our  beloved  A.  S.*  But  I  hope  death  has  not 
imposed  an  everlasting  termination  on  our  friendship.' 

The  happy  use  made  of  the  Bible  in  all  his  letters,  is  a  proof  of  the 
delight  which  he  had  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  that  in  Plis  law  he 
meditated  day  and  night.  There  is  no  small  measure  of  wisdom  neces- 
sary in  introducing  with  propriety  the  language  of  Scripture,  either  in 
conversation  or  in  letters.  This  is  sometimes  done  in  a  manner  too  easy, 
and  in  circumstances  too  familiar;  but  the  texts  to  which  he  refers  ap- 
pear as  words  in  season,  and  as  the  voice  of  God  elevating  the  views  and 
solemnizing  the  feelings  of  men. 

These  letters  abound  with  reflections  and  maxims  important  and  in- 
teresting, and  of  these  we  shall  give  a  few  as  specimens,  regretting  that 
our  limits  admit  not  of  further  indulgence: — 

*The  Gospel  gives  us  its  strongest  consolations  under  those  afflictions 
which  press  heaviest  upon  us. 

'Never  was  friend  more  loved  by  me  than  he  whom  God  has  taken 
from  me,  but  we  will  never  be  happy  unless  we  can  say  with  some  de- 
gree of  sincerity,  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and  there  is  none 
in  all  the  earth  whom  I  desire  beside  thee."  At  the  same  time  I  have 
reason  to  rejoice  that  all  my  lovers  and  friends  are  not  put  far  from  me, 
and  that  the  departed  are  not  for  ever  removed.  Oh  that  we  possessed 
a  large  measure  of  that  faith  which  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for! 

'  When  children  are  removed  out  of  the  world  before  their  parents,  it 
is  happy  when  they  leave  such  a  pleasant  memorial  behind  them,  that 
the  sorrows  of  the  mourner  are  mingled  with  joy  and  thanksgiving. 

'  I  dislike  to  hear  Christ's  lamentation  on  the  cross,  "  My  God !  My  God! 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  called  his  complaint  This  seems  not  to 
accord  with  his  resignation  and  patience,  the  voluntary  character  of  his 
sufferings,  nor  the  words  which  follow  in  the  Psalm  from  which  the 
language  is  quoted :  "  But  thou  are  holy,  0  thou  that  inhabitest  the  praises 
of  Israel." 

*  He  that  is  animated  throughout  a  discourse,  is  not  animated  at  all. 

^  Probably,  by  these  initials  is  indicated  the  Rev.  Andrew  Swanson, 
who  died  eady  in  life,  after  a  brief  but  gifted  ministry.  -His  published 
Sermons  are  still  extant  and  highly  esteemed.  Although  reared  with 
Lawson  under  Professor  John  Brown  of  Haddington  in  the  Secession 
Church,  he  made  several  changes  in  his  Ecclesiastical  relations.  With  a 
delicate  allusion  to  this,  his  pious  and  excellent  old  Professor,  on  being 
informed  of  his  death,  said;  *  Ay,  ay,  is  Andrew  dead?  Weel,  he  has 
found  a  Kirk  to  suit  him  noo !'  It  is  highly  creditable  also  to  Dr.  Law- 
son,  that  the  changes  made  by  his  friend  and  fellow-student  made  no 
change  in  the  warmth  of  their  friendship  throughout  life. — Ed. 


XXVIU  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSON 

It  is  absurd  to  seem  as  earnest  in  announcing  a  method,  as  in  recom- 
mending Jesus  Christ. 

'  Mr.  Bell  of  Wooller  is  gone.  He  has  I  believe  left  few  equal  and  none 
superior  among  us,  in  those  qualities  which  command  esteem  and  engage 
love.  I  am  persuaded  that  he  is  now  with  Christ.  Is  it  not  material  for 
us  to  consider  whether  we  are  as  likely  as  he  to  make  a  happy  exchange 
when  we  are  called  from  this  world? 

'  1  do  not  think  it  difficult  to  bear  reproach  as  a  stoic,  but  to  bear  it  as 
becometh  saints,  we  need  the  grace  and  the  spirit  of  love  and  meekness. 
How  can  we  find  in  our  hearts  to  pray  for  pardon  if  we  do  not  forgive? 

*  Many  of  our  anxieties  are  superfluous,  and  those  most  of  all  which 
respect  futurity.  Many  who  are  now  in  health  will  die  this  year,  and 
many  who  are  now  looking  daily  for  the  message  of  departure  will  be 
preserved  alive  for  years  to  come. 

*  A  turn  is  given  to  the  mind  by  the  companions  of  our  youth,  which 
for  the  most  part,  has  an  influence  on  the  remainder  of  life. 

*  Unliappy  must  the  happiest  of  those  men  be,  whose  happiness  rests 
on  any  thing  so  precarious  as  that  which  is  but  a  vapour. 

'  I  wish  if  possible  to  have  every  reproach  cast  on  me  to  die  a  natural 
death.  Boerhaave  never  troubled  himself  to  confute  calumnies ;  they 
were  sparks,  he  used  to  say,  which  if  you  blow  them,  will  kindle  into  a 
flame :  if  you  let  them  alone  they  will  expire. 

'The  present  state  of  affairs  confirms  the  words  of  Elihu,  "Great  men 
are  not  always  wise."  May  they  learn  this,  that  they  may  show  indul- 
gence to  those  who  differ  from  their  present  way  of  thinking ! 

'  We  have  great  reason  to  bless  God  for  sound  understandings ;  but  they 
cannot  well  be  called  sound,  if  their  powers  are  not  employed  in  His 
service. 

'It  will  be  known  at  the  great  dsLjwhen  long  life  turned  out  a  blessing; 
and  who  have,  by  their  own  folly,  made  it  a  curse  to  themselves.' 

ANECDOTES  OF  DR.  LAWSON. 

Ere  I  come  to  the  concluding  part  of  this  sketch,  a  few  anecdotes  may 
be  introduced  with  good  effect  illustrative  of  his  character  as  a  minister, 
as  a  man,  and  as  a  teacher  of  theology. 

Though  he  lived  in  a  Burgh,  which  like  other  towns  of  that  class,  was 
frequently  agitated  by  electioneering  politics,  he  never  took  part  in  such 
contests,  but  gave  ftiithful  warning  when  he  felt  it  necessary,  against  the 
evil  tempers  and  the  violence  which  they  so  often  excite.  On  one  oc- 
casion when  the  town  was  much  inflamed,  he  exhorted  his  people  not  to 
lose  sight  of  their  Christian  character  amidst  the  contests  of  party ;  and 
to  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate.  His  heart  was  so  affected  with  the 
importance  of  eternity,  and  with  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
people,  that  he  was  overpowered  even  unto  tears. 

Though  his  audience  was  in  general  an  attentive  one,  he  observed,  on 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XXIX 

one  occasion,  that  many  of  them  were  asleep  while  he  was  preaching. 
He  made  a  pause,  at  which  they  all  lifted  up  their  lieads  with  evident 
anxiety.  On  observing  this,  he  said,  'How  strange  is  your  conduct! 
You  gave  yourselves  up  to  sleep  while  I  was  preaching  the  Gospel  of 
Salvation ;  and  now,  when  I  am  silent,  you  seem  all  anxious  to  hear!' 

Of  his  skill  in  introducing  local  allusions,  the  following  incident  is  a 
striking  illustration.  A  few  years  before  he  died,  he  preached  at  Stitchel, 
on  the  Monday  after  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  text 
was  John  xxi.  18,  19.  'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  When  thou  wast 
young  thou  girdedst  thyself,  and  walkcdst  whither  thou  wouldst:  but  when 
thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shalt  stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall 
gird  thee,  and  carry  thee  whither  thou  wouldest  not.  This  spake  he, 
signifying  by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God.  And  when  he  had  spoken 
this  he  saith  unto  him,  Follow  me.'  And  it  was  with  these  words  he 
commenced  his  sermon:  'Forty  years  ago  I  preached  at  the  communion 
in  this  place.  Your  holy  and  beloved  pastor  discoursed  on  that  occasion 
on  these  words,  '  This  beginning  of  miracles  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee, 
and  manifested  forth  his  glory ;  and  his  disciples  believed  on  him.'  That 
was  a  sermon  on  the  Jirst  of  Christ's  miracles  and  its  blessed  results,  and 
I  am  now  to  discourse  lo  you  on  some  of  his  last  words,  and  oh  may  it  be 
with  such  happy  effects  !  There  are  few  in  this  assembly  who  were  pres- 
ent at  the  service  to  which  I  refer,  and  forty  years  hence  the  greater  part 
of  us  will  be  in  eternity,  and  an  eternity  either  of  happiness  or  misery. 
Oh  that  we  were  wise,  that  we  understood  this,  that  we  would  consider 
our  latter  end !'  This  preface  made  the  deepest  impression  on  all  present, 
and  the  whole  discourse  was  heard  with  uncommon  interest. 

I  shall  give  one  instance  out  of  many  of  his  happy  quotation  of  texts 
of  Scripture  ;  and  in  it  we  see  the  delicate  kindness  with  which  he  could 
apologize  for  omissions,  and, the  dexterity  with  which  he  could  check 
censorious  remarks.  At  the  close  of  a  Sacramental  solemnity  in  Selkirk, 
the  minister  who  officiated  last  pronounced  the  benediction  at  the  end  of 
his  prayer.  The  people  remained  in  the  yard,  and  Dr.  L.  suggested  to 
him  to  give  out  a  psalm.  Though  labouring  under  pain,  he  arose  and 
did  so;  and  Dr.  L.  when  the  psalm  was  ended,  addressed  the  people  in 
various  excellent  counsels,  calling  them  to  value  more  highly  that  re- 
demption which  would  be  the  perpetual  song  of  heaven,  and  to  cultivate 
and  exercise  those  devout  affections  which  should  be  expressed  in  an 
eternity  of  praise.  He  then  said  that  it  was  usual  to  make  the  benediction 
the  close  of  the  service;  but  that  the  apostle  Paul  after  having  expressed 
the  holy  wishes  implied  in  it  for  the  Eomans,  felt  some  new  matter  oc- 
curring to  his  mind  which  he  states  to  them,  and  then  repeats  it.  Let 
us  now  repeat  it,  and  may  it  be  doubly  felt  in  the  piety  it  breathes,  and 
doubly  experienced  in  the  grace  and  peace  which  it  contains. 

It  deserves  to  be  noticed  that  he  lectured  through  the  whole  Bible,  a 
task  which  few  have  been  able  to  accomplish.     For  some  time  after  his 


XXX  MEMOIR   OF   DR.   LAWSON 

ordination  lie  did  not  write  his  lectures,  but  the  thought  struck  him  that 
he  ought  to  have  dons  so,  and  that  this  portion  of  olficial  duty  required 
as  much  careful  preparation  as  was  bestowed  on  sermons.  From  that 
time  he  wrote  them  regularly.  He  left  behind  him  no  less  than  eighty 
considerable  volumes  in  manuscript;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  so 
few  of  them  have  been  given  to  the  public.  If  a  man  so  gifted  in  memory 
and  a  ready  elocution  wrote  with  such  care;  and  if  Paul  with  his  ex- 
traordinary endowments  had  his  parchments  containing,  we  may  believe, 
suggestions  for  preaching,  the  fruits  of  study,  and  the  records  of  experi- 
ence; most  inexcusable  are  they  who  lay  up  no  stores  of  knowledge,  and 
who  degrade  sacred  subjects  by  the  flimsiness  and  incoherence  of  their 
attempted  illustrations. 

A  circumstance  may  "be  mentioned  as  evincing  the  power  which  God 
sometimes  gives  to  moral  admonition  from  the  pulpit.  Dr.  L.  when 
preaching  on  the  eighth  commandment,  insisted  strongly  on  the  duty  of 
restitution.  Next  morning  a  family  from  whose  house  a  pair  of  shoes 
had  been  stolen  some  years  before,  found  the  price  of  them  lying  on  the 
sole  of  the  window,  placed  there  by  the  unknown  offender.  Ministers 
draw  the  bow  at  a  venture,  but  God  directs  the  arrow  to  the  heart. 

The  anecdotes  illustrative  of  his  character  as  a  man  and  a  Christian 
will  exhibit 

niS   HUMILITY. 

In  a  discourse  on  the  Sovereignty  of  Grace  in  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
he  made  the  following  declaration : — '  For  my  part  I  am  firmly  persuaded 
that  all  my  hope  must  rest  upon  the  richness  and  sovereignty  of  the  mercy 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  I  am  persuaded  that  millions  already  in  hell 
were  far  less  criminal  when  they  left  the  world  than  I  have  been.  I  am 
sensible  that  I  can  never  make  myself  a  fitter  subject  of  mercy  than  I  am 
at  this  moment;  and  that  therefore  I  must  follow  to  tlie  pit  those  miserable 
wretches  that  are  groaning  under  the  WTath  of  God,  unless  I  am  plucked 
as  a  brand  out  of  the  burning.  A  doctrine  so  necessary  to  my  hope  and 
peace  as  the  sovereignty  of  divine  mercy  I  hope  never  to  renounce.' 

In  travelling  with  a  young  friend,  the  conversation  turned  on  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  human  heart.  The  youth,  who  had  the  highest  sense  of 
his  v/isdom  and  sanctity,  said  to  him,  M  do  not  think  you  would  need  to 
fear  much  though  your  thoughts  were  laid  open.'  Dr.  L.  replied, '  I  could 
not  bear  that  the  course  of  my  thoughts  even  for  one  hour  should  be  ex- 
posed.' Most  needful  is  the  prayer,  'Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret  faults; 
keep  back  thy  servant  also  from  presumptuous  sins !' 

Soon  after  he  commenced  his  course  as  Professor,  a  very  unpopular 
preaclier  v/.as  sent  to  supply  his  pulpit  for  three  Sabbaths  in  succession. 
lie  felt  the  appointment  as  unkind,  and  had  some  reason  to  suspect  that 
it  proceeded  from  no  friendly  feeling.  Thinking  it,  as  he  said,  better  to 
prevent  complaints  than  to  answer  them,  he  preached  a  discourse  to  his 


AND    HIS   WRITINGS.  XXXl 

people  on  each  of  these  sabbaths.  And  after  the  preacher  had  left  him 
he  made  the  following  statement:  'I  never  heard  him  preach  a  sermon 
but  he  told  me  more  of  my  duty  than  I  practised  all  my  life ;  and  while 
this  was  the  case,  whatever  reason  I  had  to  find  fault  with  myself,  I  had 
none  to  find  fault  with  him.' 

HIS   MEEKNESS   AND   rOIlEEARANCE. 

When  in  London  he  was  asked  to  dine  with  a  family  wliere  he  wa?  to 
meet  with  a  minister  who  was  at  that  time  in  high  popularity.  From 
the  simplicity  of  his  appearance  and  manners,  Dr.  H.  thought  him  a  fi': 
subject  for  his  wit,  and  treated  him  with  rude  freedom.  Dr.  L.  felt  his 
indignation  kindled,  and  thought  not  only  of  repelling  his  insolence,  but 
of  exposing  him  to  shame  on  account  of  the  spirit  lie  liad  manifested,  and 
the  claims  he  had  advanced.  But  this  reflection  made  him  let  him 
alone; — 'London  is  the  scene  of  his  duties,  what  I  say  may  injure  his 
usefulness.  His  reflections  can  do  me  no  harm.  It  will  be  far  better  for 
me  to  gain  a  victory  over  myself  than  over  him.' 

He  was  called  to  preach  at  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in 
Glasgow  at  a  time  when  the  controversy  in  the  Secession  church  about 
toleration  had  raised  malignant  feelings  in  the  minds  of  many  against 
him.  He  was  to  ofiiciate  on  the  Friday  evening,  and  so  tempestuous  was 
the  weather  that  the  attendance  was  very  small.  Some  person  in  the 
vestry,  afraid  lest  he  should  consider  that  as  an  indication  of  public  feel- 
ing which  arose  merely  from  the  storminess  of  the  night,  kindly  suggested 
what  reason  he  had  to  disregard  the  slanders  of  ignorance  and  malice; 
upon  which  he  repeated  a  sentence  in  Latin  in  which  there  wa^  a  double 
allusion  to  the  storm  and  to  the  prejudice  which  had  been  excited; — 'It  is 
but  a  little  cloud  and  it  will  soon  blow  over.'  Some  one  expressed  his  sur- 
prise that  he  had  not  repelled  the  attacks  which  had  been  made  on  him, 
and  he  replied  in  the  words  of  a  heathen  philosopher; — 'Why  should  I 
kick  an  ass  because  an  ass  has  kicked  me?'  When  it  was  suggested  that 
the  epithet  would  be  applied  to  the  most  abusive  and  the  most  despicable 
of  his  assailants,  he  replied,  that  he  Vv'ould  be  sorry  if  it  were,  and  that  ii 
he  thought  so,  he  would  never  use  the  language  again. 

HIS   DELIGHT   IN   THE   ACCEPTABILITY   OF   OTHEKS. 

On  one  occasion,  when  two  preachers  had  officiated  in  his  place  and  that 
of  a  friend,  and  had  been  highly  popular,  he  remarked,  that  'it  was  not 
very  easy  to  ascertain  from  their  appearances  at  the  hall,  what  measure 
of  popularity  young  men  will  attain.  If  Christ  be  magnified,  all  is  gained.' 
Envy  was  a  feeling  he  despised  for  its  meanness,  and  abhorred  for  its 
malignity.  He  spoke  of  it  as  directly  opposed  to  the  temper  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  remarked  that  the  passage  in  James  condemnatory  of  it  should 
be  read  as  a  question ;— '  Doth  the  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us  lust  to  envy  V 
The  phrase,  'The  spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us,'  is  never  used  in  Scripture  for 
our  own  spirit,  but  for  the  Spirit  of  God. 


XXxii  MEMOIR  OF  DE.   LAWSON 

HIS  CANDOUR. 

I  never  saw  a  man,  said  one  who  knew  liim  well,  who  was  more  ready- 
to  acknowledgo  the  force  of  an  argument,  though  it  had  not  occurred  to 
himself.  As  an  evidence  of  this  it  may  be  stated,  that  when  a  young 
friend  had  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  Melchizedec  was  only  a  king  in 
Canaan ;  and  that,  as  Paul  was  reasoning  with  the  Jews  from  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures,  no  man  reading  only  the  passages  in  Genesis  and 
in  the  110th  psalm  was  likely  to  suppose  him  to  be  any  thing  else;  he 
admitted  the  force  of  the  suggestion,  and  said  it  would  not  be  easily  an- 
swered by  those  who  wished  to  assign  to  him  a  higher  character. 

On  one  occasion  while  he  was  travelling  in  a  stage  coach,  one  of  the 
passengers,  supposing  him  to  be  a  clergyman,  expressed  his  surprise  that 
a  tenet  so  horrible  as  the  perdition  of  heathens  should  have  a  place  in  the 
creed  of  Christians;  and  that  any  man  should  think  that  one  so  en- 
lightened and  so  virtuous  as  Socrates  should  not  be  saved.  To  this  tirade 
Dr.  L.  replied ;— '  God  is  the  judge  of  all,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  pronounce 
a  sentence  on  any.  If  you  and  I  meet  Socrates  in  heaven,  we  will  be 
happy  to  find  him  there.  If  he  is  not,  sufficient  reasons  \n\l  be  given 
for  his  absence.' 

HIS   SCRUPULOUS   REGARD   TO   ENGAGEMENTS. 

"SVhen  at  Glasgow  he  accepted  of  an  invitation  to  dine  at  a  friend's  house, 
but  having  gone  to  Paisley,  he  met  with  a  party  there  with  whom  he  saw 
much  that  was  interesting,  and  with  whom  he  was  solicited  to  spend  the 
afternoon.  The  son  of  his  friend  who  was  with  him  urged  him  to  do  so, 
as  there  were  persons  in  the  party  v/hom  he  might  not  again  meet,  and 
with  whom  this  unexpected  intercourse  might  be  mutually  agreeable; 
and  said  that  his  parents  would  be  glad  to  see  him  any  other  day,  and 
would  be  satisfied  if  he  was  happy.  His  reply  was,  'I  will  keep  my  en- 
gagement, for  you  have  no  authority  from  them  to  release  me  from  it; 
and  I  will  not  hurt  any  one's  feelings,  even  though  by  doing  so,  I  might 
gratify  my  own.' 

HIS   DELIGHT   IN   HIS   CHILDREN. 

I  have  heard  various  anecdotes  which  illustrate  this,  and  which  show 
the  pleasure  he  took  in  opening  their  minds  and  engaging  their  affections. 
Let  not  this  be  thought  too  minute  and  familiar  for  mention.  Who  does 
not  think  with  more  interest  of  the  heart  and  the  character  of  IMelancthon 
when  he  finds  him  relating  this  little  circumstance; — '  I  was  liolding  my 
little  daughter  in  my  arms  in  the  morning,  when  she  had  only  her  night 
gown  on.  She  observed  tears  stealing  down  my  cheeks,  and  took  up  her 
skirt  and  wiped  them  away.  This  little  act  of  hers  has  made  a  lasting 
impression  on  my  memory  and  heart,  and  I  could  not  but  think  it  sig- 
nificant.' 

HIS  EXCELLENT  QUALITIES   AS   A   FRIEND. 

He  delighted  much  in  the  visits  of  his  friends,  though  he  rarely  suf- 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XXXlll 

fered  intercourse  witli  them  to  encroach  on  the  time  claimed  by  other 
duties ;  and  those  that  knew  his  habits  felt  it  would  be  wrong  to  inter- 
fere with  that  which  was  to  be  so  well  spent.  A  friend  mentioned  to  me 
that  he  had  travelled  some  miles  to  see  him,  and  meant  to  go  to  Stitchel 
in  the  evening.  He  urged  him  to  tarry  all  night,  but  finding  him  de- 
termined and  the  evening  advancing,  he  said  ; — 'If  you  are  determined 
to  go  to  Stitchel,  it  would  be  unkind  to  detain  you,  as  the  road  is  neither 
short  nor  easy.'  It  was  mid-summer,  and  he  added, — '  but  there  is  hardly 
any  night  at  this  time  of  the  year.  I  often  think  of  heaven  at  this  sea- 
son, and  of  the  statement  of  the  apostle  John, — "And  there  shall  be  no 
night  there."  ' 

With  his  neighbour,  Mr.  Kidston  of  Stow,  he  maintained  a  very  close 
friendship,  and  respected  him  much  for  his  piety  and  holy  skill  in  the 
things  of  God.  On  one  occasion  he  had  been  selected  as  umpire  in  a 
dispute  betwixt  that  minister  and  some  members  of  his  congregation,  and 
Mr.  K.,  irritated  at  what  he  thought  his  intention  of  deciding  against 
him,  broke  out  into  some  harsh  reflections,  which  he  ended  by  saying, — 
'but  still  I  believe  that  you  are  a  saint  of  God.'  'If  you  think  me  so,' 
was  the  meek  reply,  'you  cannot  think  ill  of  me.' 

When  Mr.  K.  died  he  went  to  his  funeral,  and  as  the  coffin  was  kept 
open  till  near  the  time  of  interment  that  his  more  intimate  friends  might 
take  a  last  view  of  his  countenance  if  they  chose,  Dr.  L.  went  into  the 
death-chamber,  and  stood  and  looked  earnestly  at  the  corpse.  When  it 
was  necessary  to  retire,  he  lifted  up  his  arm  to  brush  away  his  tears,  and, 
saying,  'I  will  see  him  again,'  turned  about  and  went  away.  Next  day 
he  preached  the  funeral  Sermon  from  these  words, — 'Moses  my  servant 
is  dead;'  in  which  he  bore  ample  testimony  to  the  gifts,  graces,  and  la- 
bours of  his  departed  brother;  and  addressed  many  solemn  and  suitable 
admonitions  to  the  people. 

AS  A   PROFESSOR  OF  THEOLOGY. 

I  may  relate  a  few  anecdotes  illustrative  of  his  wisdom,  fidelity,  and 
paternal  kindness  in  this  capacity ;  only  premising  that  the  substance  of 
his  counsels  will  be  found  in  the  Christian  Eepository  for  March  and 
April  1821,  under  the  title  of  'Faults  into  which  Ministers  may  fall  as 
to  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  their  preaching.'  Though  he  discharged 
his  duties  in  this  character  to  the  high  satisfaction  of  the  generality  of 
his  brethren,  there  were  some  who,  irritated  at  the  part  which  he  had 
taken  in  the  controversy  respecting  toleration,  wrote  him  a  letter,  in 
which  it  was  insinuated  that  he  did  not  attend  with  the  necessary  strict- 
ness to  the  religious  principles  of  his  students.  To  it  he  sent  no  reply, 
but  in  speaking  of  it  to  a  friend  said,  that  he  felt  peculiarly  hurt  at  see- 
ing appended  to  it  the  name  of  one  who  should  have  known  him  better. 
He  added:  'His  simplicity  has  been  imposed  on  by  specious  pretenses. 
Another  letter  of  that  kind  will  make  me  resign  my  office.' 
C 


XXxiv  '  MEMOIR   OF   DPw.    LAWSON 

It  was  seldom  that  he  was  called  to  reprove  any  of  his  students;  and 
when  lie  did  so,  it  was  done  with  such  solemnity  as  secured  its  effect.  To 
two  students  who  were  whispering  to  each  other  during  his  lecture,  he 
said,—'  If  your  conversation  is  considered  by  you  as  more  important  than 
what  I  am  stating,  and  you  cannot  defer  it,  you  may  proceed  ;  but  if  not, 
you  will  wait  till  I  be  done.' 

Mention  has  been  made  in  a  former  sketch  of  the  reproof  which  he 
gave  to  a  young  man  for  levity.  I  am  happy  I  can  add  to  the  account  a 
circumstance  worthy  of  notice  in  regard  to  both.  The  youth  came  to 
make  the  apology  which  was  expected ;  but  Dr.  L.  who  had  been  in- 
formed that  the  levity  manifested  was  occasioned  by  a  circumstance  which 
rendered  it  excusable,  stopped  him  while  entering  on  his  apology;  ex- 
pressed the  confidence  which  he  had  as  to  his  demeanour  in  future ;  and 
conversed  with  him  on  other  subjects  in  the  most  friendly  manner.  How 
beautifully  did  this  exhibit  the  spirit  of  the  father  to  the  prodigal  son,  a 
spirit  whose  exercise  cherishes  most  sweetly  the  feelings  of  contrition, 
and  secures  most  effectually  steadiness  in  virtue. 

He  often  urged  on  his  students  to  treasure  the  word  of  God  in  their 
memories ;  and  it  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that,  while  himself  a  student, 
he  had  committed  to  memory  so  accurately  the  numerous  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture at  the  close  of  the  various  paragraphs  of  Mr.  Brown's  System  of  Di- 
vinity, that  that  excellent  man  used  to  say,  that  he  never  found  a  student 
who  could  repeat  them  so  exactly ;  and  that  he  never  run  him  out  but 
once. 

In  his  counsels  respecting  prayer  he  recommended  simplicity,  earnest- 
ness, and  brevity;  and  remarked, — *It  was  the  saying  of  some  man,  that 
the  devil  was  served  by  long  sermons  (as  they  led  the  hearers  to  worldly 
thoughts,  fretfulness,  weariness,  and  slumber) ;  and  he  might  have  ad- 
ded, and  by  long  prayers  too.' 

Respect  and  deference  to  elder  ministers  was  one  of  his  counsels: — 'At- 
tached as  I  am  to  Presbyterian  parity,  yet  such  modesty  and  deference 
is  amiable  in  youth,  and  to  it  age  has  a  claim.' 

In  a  conversation  with  some  of  his  students  be  remarked,  that  'a  good 
voice  would  go  far  with  some  to  gain  popularity  ;  but  rest  assured,  it  will 
take  something  else  to  maintain  it.' 

The  subject  of  mimickry  was  introduced:  he  said,  where  young  men 
could  bear  it,  it  might  be  useful  to  correct  improprieties.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  heard  an  imitation  of  his  own  manner,  and  said,  'Had  I  been 
early  aware  of  its  defects,  I  might  have  been  able  to  correct  them.' 

His  parting  with  his  students  was  solemn  and  tender.  When  they 
went  to  his  dwelling  to  take  leave  of  him,  he  gave  a  freer  vent  to  his 
feelings  than  he  did  in  the  public  hall.  A  friend  has  mentioned  to  me, 
that  in  his  last  call  on  him  along  with  two  of  his  companions,  he  said, 
*  You  do  not  return  to  your  place  as  Joshua  sent  away  the  children  of 
Reuben  and  the  children  of  Gad,  with  much  riches  of  silver  and  gold ; 


AND    HIS    WRITINGS.  XXXV 

but  I  hope  you  go  away  with  your  minds  stored  with  divine  truth,  and 
your  hearts  with  holy  affections,  a  treasure  far  better.'  To  one  of  them, 
then  in  delicate  health,  he  said;  'You  are  not  so  well  in  body  as  your 
friends  would  wish  you,  but  we  are  in  the  hands  of  a  good  God  who 
knows  what  is  to  be  the  issue  of  our  afflictions,  and  the  best  issue ;'  and 
his  voice  faultered  while  he  said  farewell. 

He  felt  a  very  deep  interest  in  the  settlement,  the  lot,  and  the  labours 
of  his  students  when  they  w^ere  ordained  to  the  ministry.  As  an  instance 
of  this  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  one  morning  when  about  to  partake  of 
some  refreshment  with  a  friend,  he  requested  him  to  ask  a  blessing,  and  to 
supplicate,  while  thus  engaged,  God's  blessing  on  the  ordination  of  one  of 
his  students  which  was  to  take  place  that  day.  He  said,  '  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  remember  it  before  the  Lord  in  private,  and  if  my  prayers 
are  granted,  God  will  bless  him,  and  make  him  a  blessing.' 

To  one  of  his  students,  an  intimate  companion  of  one  of  his  sons,  he 
wrote  a  very  affecting  letter  in  peculiar  circumstances.  That  young  man, 
who  was  himself  very  unwell,  wrote  to  his  friend  at  Selkirk  a  letter  of 
affectionate  enquiry  as  to  his  indisposition,  of  which  he  had  heard.  Ere 
his  letter  reached  Selkirk,  John  Lawson  was  no  more;  and  his  father  re- 
plied to  it  as  if  from  his  departed  son.  The  answer  is  written  in  a  strain 
uncommonly  solemn  and  affecting,  and  indicates  in  a  very  striking  man- 
ner how  much  his  mind  had  been  conversant  with  things  heavenly  and 
eternal.  It  breathes  not  the  language  of  terror  and  despair,  like  the 
spirit  that  assumed  the  figure,  the  voice,  and  the  mouth  of  the  departed 
prophet;  but  that  of  holy  love  and  hope,  like  the  words  of  Moses  and 
Elias  when  they  appeared  in  glory  on  the  mount,  and  spake  of  the  de- 
cease which  Christ  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem  : — 

'  Dear  Sir, 

'Your  hope  that  I  am  in  a  better  state  of  health 
than  formerly  is  now  more  than  realized.  God  has,  in  his  infinite  mercy, 
been  pleased  to  receive  me  into  those  happy  abodes,  where  there  is  no 
more  sorrow,  nor  death,  nor  sin.  I  now  hear  and  see  things  which  it  is 
impossible  to  utter ;  and  would  not  give  one  hour  of  the  felicity  which 
I  now  enjoy,  for  a  lifetime,  or  for  a  thousand  years,  of  the  greatest  felicity 
which  I  enjoyed  on  earth. 

'I  still  love  you,  and  the  other  friends  whom  I  left  on  earth,  but  my 
affection  for  them  is  very  different  from  what  it  was ;  I  value  them  not 
for  the  love  which  they  bear  to  me,  or  the  amiable  qualities  which  are 
most  generally  esteemed  by  men,  unless  they  love  my  Lord  and  Saviour, 
through  whose  blood  I  have  found  admission  to  heaven.  The  happiness 
that  I  wish  for  you  is  not  advancement  in  the  world,  or  a  rich  enjoyment 
of  its  pleasures;  but  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  the  grace  of  his 
Spirit,  and  a  share,  when  a  few  years  have  passed,  of  those  things  which 
eye  has  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  and  which  it  has  not  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive. 


XXXvi  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    LAWSON 

'It  is  not  permitted  to  us  who  dwell  on  high  to  appear  to  our  former 
friends,  and  to  inform  them  of  our  present  feelings;  and,  ardently  as  I 
desire  to  have  you  a  participant  of  my  felicity,  I  do  not  wish  to  approach 
you  in  a  visible  form,  to  tell  you  of  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  that  inher- 
itance which  I  possess.  Abraham  tells  me  that  the  writings  of  the  pro- 
phets and  apostles  are  better  fitted  to  awaken  sinners  to  a  sense  of  ever- 
lastino-  things,  and  to  excite  good  men  to  holiness,  than  apparitions  and 
admonitions  of  their  departed  friends  would  be,  and  what  he  says  is  felt 
to  be  true  by  all  of  us.  I  do  not  now  read  the  Bible.  I  thank  God  I 
often  read  it  from  beginning  to  end,  when  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  learn 
from  it  the  knowledge  of  my  beloved  Saviour;  and  yet,  if  I  could  now 
feel  uneasiness,  I  would  regret  that  I  made  it  so  little  the  subject  of  my 
meditation.  You  would  be  glad  to  know  whether,  though  unseen,  I  may 
not  be  often  present  with  you,  rejoicing  in  your  prosperity,  and  still  more 
in  every  good  work  performed  by  you ;  in  every  expression  of  love  to  my 
God;  and  care  for  the  welfare  of  your  own  soul.  But  I  am  permitted  to 
tell  you  no  more  on  this  subject  than  God  has  thought  fit  to  tell  you  in 
his  word,  that  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth ;  that 
angels  are  present  in  Christian  assemblies,  observing  with  pleasure  or 
indignation  the  good  or  the  bad  behaviour  of  the  worshippers ;  and  that 
we  welcome  with  great  joy  our  friends  from  earth,  when  they  are  received 
into  our  everlasting  habitations. 

'Farewell!  my  dear  friend,  farewell!  but  not  for  ever.  What  are  all 
the  days  you  have  before  you  on  earth,  but  a  moment?  I  hope  that  the 
grace  which  hath  brought  me  so  early  in  my  existence  to  heaven,  will 
bring  you  all  to  the  same  happy  place,  after  sparing  you  some  time  longer 
in  the  lower  world  to  serve  your  generation,  by  his  will,  and  to  do  more 
than  I  had  an  opportunity  to  do,  for  exciting  your  neighbour  to  choose 
the  path  of  life.  Much  good  may  be  done  by  the  attractive  example ;  by 
the  prayers;  and  (at  proper  times,)  by  the  religious  converse  of  Christians 
engaged  in  this  world. 

'Farewell!  again,  till  we  meet  never  to  be  separated. 

'I  am  your  friend,  more  sincerely  than  ever, 

J.  L.' 

To  his  students  when  fixed  in  scenes  of  pastoral  duty  he  was  always 
ready  to  give  his  best  advice;  and  their  applications  for  his  counsel  were 
received  with  pleasure,  and  answered  promptly  and  kindly.  And  to  those 
of  them  who  did  not  obtain  any  fixed  charge,  he  was  most  anxious  to  do 
justice;  and  when  opportunity  was  afforded  him,  to  excite  them  to  labour 
to  show  themselves  approved  to  God;  and  to  maintain  that  meekness  of 
wisdom,  that  patience  of  hope,  those  kindly  feelings  to  their  more  suc- 
cessful brethren,  and  that  diligence  in  study  and  in  doing  good,  so  diffi- 
cult to  be  kept  alive  amidst  the  bitterness  of  disappointment,  and  strong 
temptations  to  envy. 


AND   HIS    WRITINGS.  XXXVU 

It  has  happened  that  in  two  or  three  instances,  students  left  iiis  tuition, 
and  connected  themselves  with  other  religious  parties ;  but  in  none  of  these 
cases  did  he  discover  any  irritation,  or  the  slightest  solicitude  either  about 
the  good  report  or  the  bad  report  which  they  carried  away.  His  wish 
was  that  the  Lord  might  lead  them  in  his  truth,  and  teach  them ;  the 
counsel  he  would  suggest  from  it  to  others  was,  *  Prove  all  things,  hold 
fast  that  which  is  good;'  and  the  influence  it  should  have  upon  himself 
and  others  he  would  state  in  allusion  to  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
*  Nevertheless,  whereto  we  have  already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same 
rule,  let  us  mind  the  same  thing.' 

In  a  sphere  so  retired,  and  in  a  life  so  studious,  it  may  easily  be  sup- 
posed there  would  be  few  incidents  of  general  interest.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some  incidents  the  statement  of  which  will  illustrate  the  moral  as 
well  as  the  intellectual  qualities  of  his  character. 

When  the  question  of  toleration  was  agitated  in  the  religious  society 
to  which  he  belonged, — a  topic  on  which  it  is  so  truly  astonishing  that 
men  should  have  been  so  slow  in  receiving  the  light  of  mercy, — he  felt 
himself  called  upon  to  recommend  the  great  duty  of  forbearance,  in  a 
pamphlet  of  which  it  is  only  justice  to  say,  that  it  is  characterized  by  good 
sense,  candour,  and  mildness.  A  superstitious  veneration  for  the  views 
of  our  ancestors,  who,  notwithstanding  their  struggles  for  freedom,  civil 
and  religious,  and  their  sufferings  by  the  arrogance  and  cruelty  of  their 
persecutors,  still  maintained  the  power  of  the  magistrate  to  suppress  error 
and  heresies,  (that  is,  every  opinion  which  the  ruling  power  in  church 
or  state  might  call  so,)  led  many  to  oppose  any  indulgence  to  the  senti- 
ments of  those  that  pleaded  for  statements  more  accordant  with  the  genius 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  with  liberty  of  conscience.  His  pamphlet 
was  attacked  with  great  virulence,  and  his  name  coupled  with  many  an 
odious  epithet;  but  he  committed  himself  to  Him  that  judgeth  right- 
eously, and  nothing  could  provoke  him  to  render  railing  for  railing.  In 
a  letter  to  a  friend  he  says,  in  allusion  to  this  abuse;  'I  have  more  than 
once  heard  of  things  said  in  my  name  that  were  very  remote  from  the 
truth;  but  I  paid  no  regard  to  them,  because  I  was  persuaded  they  would 
make  no  impression,  or  very  short  lived,  on  any  person  whose  good  opinion 
I  wished  to  cultivate.  I  had  read  a  story  when  I  was  a  boy,  in  an  old 
author  called  Valerius  Maximus,  which  I  sliall  never  forget,  and  which 
I  consider  as  a  rule  for  my  conduct.  Plato,  hearing  that  one  of  his  friends 
had  asporsed  his  character,  replied,  'I  will  endeavour  to  live  so  as  that 
nobody  will  believe  him.'  There  is  no  part  of  my  character  about  which 
I  am  less  solicitous  than  my  reputation  for  integrity.  I  am  pretty  certain 
from  my  own  consciousness,  joined  with  the  testimony  of  my  father  con- 
cerning my  years  of  childhood,  that  since  I  could  use  my  tongue  I  have 
never  polluted  it  with  a  wilful  lie.' 

When  the  plan  of  enlarging  the  Psalmody  was  in  agitation,  he  argued 
for  it  in  the  church  courts  in  a  very  persuasive  manner.     Among  other 


XXXviii  MEMOIR  OF   DR.   LAWSON 

statements  which  lie  made,  it  is  recollected  how  he  mentioned  the  pas- 
sages which,  it  was  predicted,  should  be  sung  in  New  Testament  times ;  and 
held  these  up  as  an  intimation  from  heaven,  that  the  praises  of  the  Gospel 
church  should  not  be  limited  to  the  Psalms  of  David.  It  is  a  very  inter- 
esting fact,  that  some  of  the  Paraphrases  then  adopted  were  made  the 
means  of  cheering  him  in  his  last  hour;  and  that  in  singing  lines  which 
exhibit  the  blessedness  of  the  saints  in  death,  and  at  the  resurrection,  and 
which  occurred  in  the  usual  course  of  domestic  worship,  his  family  joined 
with  him,  in  some  of  his  last  acts  of  worship  on  earth.* 

When  Prince  Leopold,  a  man  in  whom  the  country  felt  so  deep  an  in- 
terest, on  account  of  that  mournful  event  which  blasted  a  nation's  hopes, 
and  left  his  house  to  him  desolate,!  was  on  a  tour  through  Scotland,  and 
passed  through  Selkirk,  the  Magistrates  and  the  neighbouring  gentry  went 
out  to  meet  him,  attended  by  Dr.  Lawson's  students,  headed  by  Dr.  L. 
as  their  Professor.  Dr.  L.  was  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  paying 
his  respects  to  a  person-  descended  from  ancestors  who  had  sacrificed  so 
much  in  the  cause  of  Protestantism,  and  expressed  these  feelings  on  being 
presented  to  the  Prince  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  very  appropriate  language. 
The  Prince  felt  highly  gratified,  and  remarked  to  Sir  Walter  Scott  after- 
ward, that  he  had  received  many  compliments  on  account  of  the  Princess, 
but  this  was  the  first  he  had  received  on  his  own  account,  or  that  of  his 
ancestors. 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend  who  wished  to  hear  from  himself  an  account  of 
what  passed  betwixt  the  Prince  and  him.  Dr.  L.  writes, — 'I  entertain  a 
high  respect  for  Prince  Leopold,  as  the  descendant  of  Princes  to  whom 
the  Protestant  part  of  the  world  is  much  indebted.  He  appears  to  pos- 
sess a  degree  of  condescension  and  afiability  not  very  common  in  his  high 
rank.  Besides  what  you  saw  in  the  Papers,  he  asked  me  my  age ;  when 
I  told  him  what  it  was,  he  complimented  me  on  the  health  which  I  seemed 

*  We  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  or  incumbent  on  us,  to  enter  on  an 
editorial  criticism  or  confutation  of  Dr.  Lawson's  views  on  the  subject 
of  Psalmody;  which  is  so  vexed  a  subject  among  Presbyterians  in  the 
United  States.  We  shall  only  say,  that  we  do  not  indorse  Dr.  L's  views 
on  that  subject,  as  above  stated.  'Still,  we  may  remark,  that  the  'Para- 
phrases,' so  far  as  they  are  faithful  'translations'  of  God's  word,  must  be 
allowed  to  be  well  suited  for  worship,  by  those  who  consider  that  'the 
praises  of  the  gospel  church  should  not  be  limited  to  the  Psalms  of  Da- 
vid.' We  arc  not  one  of  such  as  hold  that  sentiment.  Yet,  happy  were 
it  for  the  unity  of  the  churches  of  Christ  to-day,  if  they  would  agree  to 
limit  themselves  in  their  Psalmody,  to  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  faith- 
fully translated,  as  contained  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  chanted  or 
sung,  cither  in  prose  or  verse.  It  does  not  appear  that  Dr.  Lawson's 
sentiments  went  beyond  this. — Ed. 

t  Referring  to  the  lamented  death  of  the  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales, 
the  wife  of  the  Prince,  daughter  of  George  IV.,  and  heir  of  the  British 
crown;  a  princess  who  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  and  love  by  the 
nation.     Her  death  plunged  the  nation  into  universal  mourning. — Ed. 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  XXXIX 

to  enjoy.  Part  of  my  answer  was,  that  one  may  enjoy  as  much  comfort 
in  old  age  as  in  youth,  if  he  is  a  fearer  of  God.  But  my  dullness  of  hear- 
ing unfitted  me  for  much  conversation  with  him.  "We  esteem  ourselves 
honoured'  when  we  are  admitted  to  the  converse  of  earthly  princes,  who 
are  creatures  of  the  dust  like  ourselves ;  why  have  we  not  a  profounder 
sense  of  our  obligations  to  the  everlasting  God  who  allows  us  to  come  to 
Him,  even  to  his  mercy  seat?  Oh  that  we  could  approach  to  Him  at  all 
times  with  the  reverence  and  the  confidence  which  are  due  to  his  great- 
ness and  his  mercy !' 

Compared  with  the  idle  and  fulsome  flatteries  so  common  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  great,  his  address  appears  dignified  and  becoming;  indicating, 
not  the  spirit  or  the  policy  of  the  sycophant,  but  the  holy  kindness  and 
the  due  respect  of  a  man  of  God. 

At  a  time  when  disaffection  to  government  was  supposed  to  be  preva- 
lent in  some  districts,  and  when  Dissenters  were  regarded  by  some  alarmists 
with  jealousy  and  suspicion.  Dr.  Lawson  approved  himself  the  friend  of 
order,  loyalty,  and  peace.  In  answer  to  a  very  gratifying  communication 
from  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  County  of  Selkirk,  he  sent  him  the  letter 
which  follows,  which  is  highly  honourable  to  his  political  principles,  and 
to  his  Christian  conduct  and  faithfulness : — 

'My  Lord, 

'  I  was  highly  flattered  by  the  letter  with  which  your 
Lordship  honoured  me,  expressing  the  Lieutenancy's  approbation  of  my 
poor  endeavours  to  serve  my  king  and  country.  I  will  certainly  endeav- 
our to  spread  the  address  which  you  was  pleased  to  commit  to  me.  I  can 
assure  your  Lordship  that  whatever  distinctions  may  be  found  among 
either  denomination  of  Seceders,  they  will  all  be  found  loyal  subjects. 
Drunkards  may  have  their  reasons  for  calling  themselves  Christians,  and 
profane  swearers  for  ranking  themselves  with  gentlemen,  but  no  man 
who  does  not  wish  to  be  a  faithful  subject  can  have  any  temptation  to 
associate  himself  with  either  of  the  societies  of  Seceders.  It  is  well  known 
that  upon  any  discovery  of  his  principles,  he  would  be  turned  out  of  either 
of  them  with  disgrace.  I  am  far  from  saying  that  they  will  be  found 
more  loyal  than  other  subjects.  Every  honest  man  in  the  Island  will 
contribute  his  support  to  the  government  that  protects  him.  I  pray  God 
that  the  Nobility  and  Gentry  may  be  as  unanimous  in  support  of  our  holy 
religion,  as  I  am  persuaded  ministers  of  every  denomination  will  be  in 
the  support  of  the  State;  I  should  then  entertain  little  fears  of  any  in- 
vader, in  the  assurance  that  God  Himself  would  be  our  salvation  in  the 
time  of  trouble. 

'I  am.  My  Lord, 
'  Your  Lordship's  and  Gentlemen  of 

the  Lieutenancy's  humble  servant, 

GEOKGE  LAWSON.' 


xl  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   LAWSON 

Living  so  near  Melrose  Abbey,  he  often  examined  with  delight  and 
wonder  this  much  admired  remnant  of  ancient  magnificence  and  beauty. 
I  allude  to  it  only  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  devout  tendency  of  his 
mind.  While  tracing  the  various  parts  of  its  exquisite  workmanship,  he 
would  contrast,  as  I  have  heard  him  say,  what  he  saw  with  Ezekiel's 
temple,  so  minutely  described  in  the  last  part  of  his  prophecy,  and  made 
the  one  aid  his  conceptions  of  the  other.  While  the  antiquary  marks 
in  it  only  its  memorials  of  the  olden  time,  its  roof  sculptured  with  sacred 
history,  the  remarkable  events  of  which  it  has  been  the  scene,  and  the 
interesting  pilgrims  that  have  resorted  to  it;  and  while  the  poet  has  brought 
before  the  fancy  its  priests  in  their  vestments,  its  choir  resounding  with 
grave  sweet  melody,  warriors  consecrating  their  swords  at  its  shrine,  nobles 
uttering  their  vows  at  its  altars,  the  dead  interred  with  sacred  pomp  within 
its  precincts,  the  moon  gleaming  on  its  arches  and  its  pillars,  and  the 
rushing  of  the  waters  by  its  side  when  'the  deep  uttered  its  voice,  and 
lifted  up  its  hands  on  high;'  to  the  pious  it  will  suggest  contemplations 
more  solemn  and  important,  and  point  them  to  that  fabric  which  shall 
endure  for  ever,  'which  is  built  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  and  of  which  Jesus  Christ  himself  is  the  chief  corner  stone.' 

During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he  laboured  under  various  infirmities. 
His  habits  during  his  whole  life  had  been  remarkably  abstemious.  He 
probably  felt  this  necessary  for  his  health,  but  he  did  not  put  the  fami- 
lies where  he  was  a  guest  to  trouble  in  preparing  what  was  nice  and  deli- 
cate for  his  use,  for  the  simplest  fare  was  that  of  which  he  would  alone 
partake ;  nor  was  his  abstemiousness  marked  by  ought  like  cynical  mo- 
roseness,  or  Pharisaic  sanctimony,  for  he  delighted  to  see  his  friends  eat 
their  bread  wdth  joy,  and  by  his  rich  fund  of  anecdotes  made  the  conver- 
sation pleasant  and  improving. 

In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends  written  by  him  when  far  advanced  in 
life,  he  gives  a  view  of  the  state  of  his  mind  and  feelings  deeply  interesting. 

'1  certainly  am  become  very  feeble,  but  I  have  reason  to  thank  God 
that  I  am  free  from  sickness,  and  mostly  from  pain.  I  could  walk  but 
a  small  part  of  the  way  to  the  meeting  house  without  extreme  fiitigue, 
(he  was  now  regularly  carried  in  a  sedan  chair  to  the  church  on  Sabbath,) 
and  yet  I  can  preach  for  a  decent  length  of  time  without  much  fatigue, 
and  I  believe  I  am  as  well  heard  as  in  my  younger  days.  I  am  now  past 
my  seventieth  year,  and  I  cannot  expect  to  recover  the  strength  which 
I  once  had,  but  1  am  in  the  hand  of  a  good  God  who  has  preserved  me 
hitherto,  and  sometimes  delivered  me  from  very  alarming  sicknesses.  I 
complain  not  that  I  share  in  the  common  lot  of  the  old,  but  I  bless  God 
that  1  still  live  when  so  many  of  my  acquaintances  are  gone  down  to  the 
grave,  that  I  still  enjoy  many  comforts,  and  that  I  can  still  perform  the 
chiefest  part  of  my  ministerial  work.  I  might  have  been  happier  in 
heaven  than  on  earth,  but  alas!  I  need  all  the  time  that  has  been  given 
me  to  prepare  to  meet  God  in  another  world.     May  He  grant  that  I  may 


AND    HIS   WRITINGS.  xli 

not  after  all  be  found  unprepared,  when  the  day  comes  on  which  I  shall 
go  whence  I  shall  not  return!  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  hear  that  the 
brethren  in  your  neighbourhood  interest  themselves  deeply  in  my  welfare. 
I  hope  if  they  live  to  old  age,  they  will  meet  with  that  respect  from  their 
juniors  wliich  they  now  pay  to  their  senior  brethren. 

'  We  must  look  forward  to  changes  in  this  world,  but  we  have  reason 
to  be  thankful  not  only  for  our  present  circumstances,  but  likewise  for 
our  ignorance  of  what  is  before  us.  I  know  that  I  must  die,  and  that 
soon,  but  I  by  no  means  wish  to  know  when  I  am  to  be  called  out  of  the 
world,  or  what  I  may  be  called  to  suffer  before  I  leave  it.  My  desire  is 
to  be  found  ready  to  go  when  called  by  Him,  to  whose  sovereign  pleasure 
it  belongs  to  order  every  thing  that  concerns  us.  I  often  wonder  that 
men  should  think  so  much  on  a  world  in  wliich  they  are  to  dwell  but  for 
a  moment,  and  so  little  upon  that  world  in  which  they  are  to  dwell  for 
ever  and  ever.     On  this  moment  depends  eternity.' 

It  has  been  felt  by  some  ministers  as  a  very  painful  circumstance,  that 
in  their  old  age,  their  debility  of  mind  or  body  became  such  that  they 
were  debarred  from  the  public  duties  of  their  ministry ;  and  it  has  re- 
quired all  the  power  of  resignation  to  check  repining,  and  to  bear  the 
languor  of  such  a  period.  Happy  is  their  lot  who  are  enabled  to  labour 
to  the  last  in  the  work  of  Christ,  and  to  bear  the  testimony  of  their  old 
age  to  Him  to  whom  they  have  devoted  the  kindness  of  their  youth. 
Such  public  services  cheer  their  spirits,  and  while  engaged  in  them  the 
Redeemer's  strength  is  made  perfect  in  their  weakness.  It  has  sometimes 
happened  that  the  debility  of  aged  ministers  has  been  such,  that  these 
services  have  been  painful  to  themselves,  and  also  to  others ;  when  the 
voice  which  was  to  them  as  a  lovely  song  is  feeble  and  inarticulate,  and 
the  memory,  once  rich  in  the  stores  of  wisdom,  is  so  decayed  as  to  make 
their  attempts  to  instruct  tiresome  by  repetitions,  embarrassed  and  de- 
sultory;  but  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Lawson  his  public  appearances  to  the  last 
were  characterized  by  the  variety,  self-possession  and  readiness  of  his  best 
days.  He  felt  that  they  were  listening  to  a  fiither's  voice,  and  his  dis- 
courses had  much  of  the  tenderness  and  solemnity  of  a  father's  par'iing 
counsels. 

It  was  in  the  advanced  period  of  his  life  that  a  testimony  of  the  love 
and  veneration  of  his  students  was  given  him,  which  could  not  but  gratify 
him.  He  was  requested  by  them  to  sit  for  his  picture,  and  this  picture 
executed  at  full  length  by  an  artist  of  merit,  and  elegantly  framed,  was 
placed  in  the  hall  of  meeting,  as  a  mark  of  their  affection  and  gratitude. 
His  likeness  has  been  thought  by  some  coarse ;  to  me  the  face  seems  to 
want  the  benignity  which  it  still  wears  in  my  remembrance,  and  the  pa- 
ternal blandness  which  made  his  prayers  and  counsels  to  be  felt  by  his 
students  as  the  dew  of  their  youth.  The  old  have  frequently  complained 
of  the  neglect,  nay,  of  the  insolence  of  the  young.  It  is  not  from  them 
that  fallen  greatness,  or  the  infirm  in  body  or  mind,  receive  much  commis- 


xlii  MEMOIR  OF   DR.   LAWSON 

eration.  This  was  tlie  complaint  of  Job,  'upon  my  right  hand  rise  the 
youth,  they  push  away  my  feet,  and  they  raise  up  against  me  the  ways  of 
their  destruction.'  To  them  the  kind  attention  of  the  young  is  peculiarly 
pleasing,  and  here  it  was  felt  by  the  good  man  as  a  great  blessing  of  his 
lot.  His  pupils  felt  his  infirmities,  adding  tenderness  to  their  respect, 
and  solicitude  to  their  eflbrts  to  please  him.  The  evident  nearness  of  the 
account  he  was  to  give  to  God,  and  in  which  their  conduct  must  occupy 
a  place,  was  an  idea  deeply  solemnizing;  and  the  prayer  put  up  by  his 
pupils  in  rotation  attested  how  they  felt  this  memento.  There  was  not 
one  of  them  who  had  the  heart  to  treat  any  symptom  of  his  weakness  with 
levity;  nor  one  of  them  who  would  not  have  counted  it  his  honour  and 
delight  to  have  adjusted  his  mantle,  and  to  have  felt  him  leaning  on  his 
arm. 

He  preached  till  within  a  fortnight  of  his  death,  and  his  last  text  was 
Psalm  Ixxxii.  6,  7:  'I  said.  Ye  are  gods,  and  all  of  you  are  children  of 
the  Most  High;  but  ye  shall  die  like  men,  and  fall  like  one  of  the  princes.' 
It  was  a  funeral  sermon  on  account  of  the  death  of  George  the  Third. 
It  was  not,  like  too  many  sermons  on  such  occasions,  a  fulsome  panegyric 
on  departed  greatness,  but  a  solemn  admonition  to  the  living.  While 
eloquence,  not  content  with  decking  the  throne,  garnishes  the  sepulchre, 
piety  feels  itself  impelled  by  the  death  of  kings,  to  give  effect  to  those 
lessons  on  the  vanity  of  man,  which  are  too  often  forgotten  amidst  the 
pomp  of  the  world.  He  read  out  a  portion  of  the  ninetieth  Psalm  to  be 
sung  by  the  congregation,  and  piously  applied  it  to  himself.  He  felt  that 
he  had  arrived  at  the  limits  of  life,  and  that  his  strength  was  sinking  to 
the  dust ;  but  in  him  it  was  seen,  that  for  an  old  age  of  piety  and  wisdom 
religion  has  provided  her  sweet  consolations  and  her  reviving  hope;  like 
nature  reserving  its  mildest  lustre  and  its  softest  calm  for  the  setting  sun. 
During  his  last  illness,  though  unable  to  lie  in  bed  during  a  great  part 
of  it,  he  was  uniformly  patient,  and  full  of  prayer.  He  bade  adieu  to  all 
his  family  one  by  one,  and  expressed  his  hope  that  they  should  meet 
again  in  heaven.  How  delightful  is  such  a  hope  to  a  dying  parent!  It 
has  sometimes  been  the  sorest  pang  felt  in  death  by  the  good,  that  they 
were  leaving  some  of  their  family  in  the  gall  of  bitterness;  that  their  ef- 
forts for  their  salvation  had  been  fruitless;  nay,  that  had  they  been  less 
indulgent  and  more  faithful,  the  result  might  have  been  different;  and 
that  this  might  be  the  last  time  in  which  they  should  look  on  them  with 
affectionate  solicitude.  Such  reflections  are  sometimes  alleviated  by  hope 
that  they  may  yet  be  converted  from  the  error  of  their  ways ;  but  still 
anxieties  and  fears  will  return  ;  but  to  leave  them  with  the  consciousness 
that  they  are  heirs  of  the  grace  of  life,  and  in  the  way  of  salvation,  renders 
the  last  ftirewell  comparatively  easy,  and  makes  them  bless  God  that  they 
can  carry  them  with  them  in  their  hearts  to  heaven. 

Most  precious  to  them  was  his  last  blessing,  'God  be  with  you  all!' 
He  had  felt  the  presence  of  God  as  the  greatest  blessing  of  his  life ;  in  it 


AND   HIS  WRITINGS.  xHli 

he  had  found  guidance  in  all  his  difficulties,  encouragement  in  all  his 
fears,  and  help  in  all  his  duties;  and  his  persuasion  was  that  in  that  pres- 
ence they  should  enjoy  direction  far  beyond  all  that  a  father's  counsel 
could  suggest,  and  care  beyond  all  that  could  be  exercised  by  a  father's 
hand.  God  with  us,  is  the  highest  privilege  of  earth ;  being  with  God,  is  the 
haj)piness  of  heaven. 

As  to  his  own  state,  he  had  the  firm  hope  of  being  with  Christ.  When 
the  assurance  of  the  apostle,  'I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life, 
nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height,  nor  dej^th,  nor  any  other  creature  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,'  was 
repeated,  he  replied  in  language  expressive  of  his  high  estimation  of  such 
an  assurance,  and  of  the  blessed  hope  with  which  he  was  cleaving  to  the 
Lord.  The  manner  in  which  he  expressed  it  evinced  the  holy  modesty 
of  his  spirit;  and  it  was  evident  from  what  followed,  that  he  wished  that 
his  Lord's  translating  hand  should  find  him  kneeling  at  the  footstool  of 
his  mercy. 

The  last  words  which  he  uttered  were  these,  'Take  me  to  paradise!'  a 
petition  beautifully  expressive  of  his  faith  in  the  Redeemer's  power  and 
grace,  and  how  his  mind  was  dwelling  on  the  cross  of  his  Lord,  and  on 
the  mercy  to  the  penitent  sufierer  by  his  side  which  blessed  that  scene. 
He  trusted  in  that  power  and  grace  which  had  raised  him  from  death  to 
life,  for  his  translation  to  glory ;  and  in  that  merciful  hand  by  which  nature 
was  supported,  while  sinking  into  dust,  for  the  conveyance  of  his  spirit 
to  everlasting  rest.  To  that  Saviour  he  would  look  for  life  in  death,  and 
for  felicity  in  heaven.  How  similar  were  his  feelings  at  a  moment  so 
solemn,  to  those  of  Mr.  Greig,  the  most  intimate  of  his  friends,  at  such  a 
crisis  some  years  after!  who,  with  a  voice  faultering  in  death,  said,  'I  will 
soon  be  in  heaven.' 

Not  long  after,  while  one  of  his  brethren  was  employed  in  prayer,  and 
presenting  that  petition,  'that  an  abundant  entrance  might  be  ministered 
to  him  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,'  he  entered 
into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  A  very  appropriate  discourse  was  delivered  after 
his  funeral  by  the  Rev.  Adam  Thomson  of  Coldstream,  on  devout  men 
carrying  Stephen  to  his  grave,  and  making  great  lamentation  over  him. 
In  this  discourse,  after  a  very  interesting  delineation  of  the  character  of 
Stephen,  and  the  regrets  called  forth  by  the  departure  of  good  men,  the 
character  of  Dr.  Lawson  is  sketched  with  skill,  fidelity,  and  affection. 


DR.   LAWSON'S  WRITINGS. 


With  regard  to  the  writings  of  Dr.  Lawson,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say 
much,  as  the  favourable  reception  they  have  met  with  from  the  public 
attests  how  their  merit  has  been  appreciated.    The  chief  of  them  are 


xliv  MEMOIR  OF   DR.   LAWSON 

Lectures  on  the  books  of  Esther  and  Ruth,  on  the  History  of  Joseph,  and 
on  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and  Discourses  on  the  History  of  David. 
No  person  qualified  to  judge  can  read  these  volumes  without  being  struck 
with  the  ingenuity  and  fertility  of  the  exposition  which  he  gives;  the 
deep  insight  into  the  human  heart  and  character  they  discover;  the  en- 
gaging simplicity  of  the  style,  and  their  practical  cast.  There  is  not  the 
least  affectation  of  critical  skill,  by  which  many  far  inferior  to  him  in 
scholarship  have  sought  to  astonish  the  vulgar:  nor  does  he  give  any 
countenance  to  the  practice  of  converting  every  incident  into  a  typical 
exhibition  of  evangelical  truth.  Some  have  indulged  in  this  practice 
under  the  influence  of  an  ill  regulated  zeal  for  the  Gospel ;  and  others 
have  done  so,  contrary  to  their  better  judgment,  from  an  undue  deference 
to  popular  prejudice;  and  it  requires  no  small  courage  to  risk  the  offense 
which  may  be  given  by  avoiding  such  allusions,  and  the  imputation  of 
the  motives  to  which  it  may  be  ascribed.  An  enlightened  friend  of  the 
Gospel  will  never  aid  in  perverting  it,  or  betray  it  to  the  scoffer  by  any 
low  fancies.  At  the  same  time,  he  eagerly  embraces  every  fit  opportunity 
of  adverting  to  the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  to  the  excellencies  of  the  Sa- 
viour ;  and  his  acquaintance  with  history,  ancient  and  modern,  has  enabled 
him  to  enliven  these  lectures  with  many  happy  illustrations  from  inci- 
dents or  characters.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  preachers  have  de- 
graded this  practice  by  the  low  and  frivolous  cast  of  the  anecdotes  they 
have  introduced,  and  others  destroy  its  efiect  by  their  frequency;  but  in 
the  hands  of  a  man  of  taste  and  wisdom,  an  incident  may  be  exhibited 
from  books  or  from  real  life  with  the  happiest  results.  It  arrests  attention, 
gives  force  to  the  lesson,  impresses  it  on  the  memory  and  the  heart,  and 
is  never  thought  or  talked  of  without  recalling  the  object  it  was  intended 
to  gain. 

His  Sermons  to  the  Aged  are  remarkably  appropriate,  and  written  in 
a  strain  plain,  faithful,  and  earnest.  The  aged  are  a  class  of  persons 
who  require  peculiar  attention  from  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  If  still 
careless,  it  is  a  most  difficult  task  to  rouse  them  to  serious  feeling;  if 
awakened  to  see  their  guilt  and  danger,  the  consciousness  of  a  life  of  sin 
is  apt  to  drive  them  to  despair;  while  their  many  infirmities,  and  the  ne- 
glect with  which  they  are  treated,  they  are  apt  to  consider  as  justifying 
or  excusing  their  fretfulness.  To  stir  up  the  slumbering  conscience,  to 
give  hope  to  those  agitated  by  remorse,  and  to  call  murmurers  to  con- 
tentment and  praise,  seem  to  have  been  his  object  in  these  sermons,  and 
they  are  admirably  adapted  to  accomplish  it. 

To  some  of  these  volumes  Dr.  L.  appended  Sermons,  chiefly  on  relative 
Duties,  which  are  marked  by  the  peculiarities  of  his  manner.  He  thought 
that  such  topics  were  less  attended  to  in  published  sermons  than  others. 
To  carry  religion  in  its  light,  benignity,  and  consolation  to  the  bed  of  lan- 
guishing, to  the  house  of  mourning,  to  the  fire-side,  and  to  the  scene  of 
lowly  toil,  requires  a  skill  in  the  word  of  truth  and  in  the  human  heart, 


AND   HIS   WRITINGS.  xlv 

a  kindliness  of  spirit,  a  minuteness  and  fidelity  in  admonition,  and  a  judi- 
ciousness and  delicacy  in  counsel,  not  frequently  associated;  but  in  him 
they  were  happily  united,  and  by  them  God  has  glorified  himself  in  the 
dwellings  of  Jacob. 

He  cheerfully  complied  with  the  requests  which  were  made  to  him  to 
write  Essays  for  several  of  the  religious  Magazines  of  the  day,  and  to  some 
of  them  he  was  a  frequent  contributor.  He  sometimes  selected  topics 
which  he  handled  in  several  Numbers  in  succession.  I  refer  to  a  series 
of  Essays  in  the  Christian  Repository,  on  Predestination,  in  which  the 
objections  to  this  doctrine  are  repelled  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner,  and 
with  uncommon  perspicuity  for  so  dark  a  subject.  I  refer  also  to  another 
series  on  what  he  calls  the  Popery  of  Protestants,  in  which  he  shows  how 
much  of  the  superstition,  false  doctrine,  and  evil  spirit  of  the  church  of 
Rome  are  to  be  found  among  those  who  boast  of  their  hostility  to  the  man 
of  sin.  This  difficult  topic  he  has  managed  with  great  candour,  fidelity, 
and  judgment.  Those  false  impressions  which  he  exposes  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  vulgar,  who  in  ignorance  or  prejudice  build  wood,  hay,  and 
stubble  on  the  foundation  laid  in  Zion;  but  may  be  found  in  Masters  and 
Eulers  in  Israel,  who  have  daubed  its  walls  with  untempered  m.ortar,  and 
fenced  it  round  with  the  restrictions  of  worldly  policy,  and  the  claims  of 
secular  domination.  Christianity  in  the  purity  of  its  worship,  the  hu- 
mility of  its  spirit,  and  the  brightness  of  its  charity,  is  the  scheme  by 
which  its  author  will  be  glorified,  its  enemies  put  to  shame,  and  the 
nations  blessed. 

In  a  Number  of  the  Religious  Monitor,  there  is  a  paper  written  by  him 
under  the  title  of  '  ileflections  of  an  Aged  Sinner  on  his  Birth-day,'  breath- 
ing the  deepest  contrition  of  a  tender  conscience  on  reviewing  the  past 
years  of  a  long  life;  that  humble  hope  of  mercy  which  the  atoning  sacri- 
fice of  the  Lamb  of  God  inspires;  the  most  solemn  dedication  of  the  days 
which  may  be  yet  allotted  to  him  by  the  will  of  Him  who  had  fed  him  all 
his  life  long  to  that  day ;  and  a  firm  trust  in  the  Angel  who  had  redeemed 
him  from  all  evil,  for  strength  in  the  infirmities,  courage  in  the  fears, 
and  light  in  the  darkness  of  age. 

He  was  led  into  a  short  controversy  with  the  Editor  of  the  Quarterly 
Magazine  by  an  attack  made  on  a  Sermon  of  his,  bearing  the  title  of 'The 
Joy  of  Parents  in  Wise  Children ;'  in  which  he  was  represented  as  teaching 
undisguised  Arminianism,  by  ascribing  an  undue  influence  to  parental 
culture  in  particular,  and  to  the  means  of  salvation  in  general.  His  reply 
was  very  able,  and  exposed  in  the  clearest  manner  the  misconceptions 
of  his  opponent,  and  the  gracious  character  of  the  connexion  which  God 
has  established  betwixt  the  means  and  the  end.  The  controversy  was 
soon  terminated,  and  had  been  prompted  by  the  spirit  of  sectarian  jeal- 
ousy and  censoriousuess,  or  by  the  hope  of  adding  to  the  circulation  of 
that  periodical. 


LEOTXJRES 


ON  THE 


WHOLE  BOOK  OF  KUTH. 


INTRODUCTION 

TO 
LECTUKES  ON  RUTH. 


The  design  of  this  book,  say  some,  is  to  give  us  the  gene- 
alogy of  David.  This  certainly  could  not  be  the  chief  design 
either  of  Samuel,  who  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  writer 
of  it,  or  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  giving  us  this  history.  The 
genealogy  of  David  from  Judah  is  contained  in  very  few  verses, 
and  we  find  it  in  several  other  parts  of  Scripture.  Every  part 
of  the  book  affords  rich  entertainment  and  useful  instruction. 

What  would  we  give  for  a  piece  of  family  history,  equally 
ancient  and  authentic,  of  any  of  our  own  nation,  or  rather  that 
nation,  whatever  it  was,  from  whence  we  have  derived  our  ori- 
gin? The  holy  Bible  was  not  written  to  gratify  our  curiosity, 
and  yet  what  book  was  ever  written  that  can  equally  gratify 
laudable  curiosity  about  the  occurrences  and  manners  of  former 


ages? 


This  book  is  one  of  those  which  were  written  by  inspiration 
of  God,  and  must  therefore  be  exceedingly  profitable  to  us,  if 
we  read  it  with  a  due  attention  of  those  instructions  which  it 
is  designed  to  impress  on  our  minds.  It  is  not  one  of  those 
books  in  which  we  are  to  look  for  new  instructions.  The  re- 
ligion recommended  in  it  is  that  which  had  been  already  taught 
by  Moses ;  but  it  impresses  deeply  upon  the  mind  of  the  atten- 
tive reader  many  truths  highly  conducive  to  holiness,  and  to 
the  happiness  even  of  the  present  life. 

We  find  in  this  book,  that  private  families  are  as  much  the 

objects  of  divine  regard  as  the  houses  of  princes.     The  sacred 

writers   that  give  us  the  history  of  Saul  and  David,  give   us 

likewise  the  history  of  Naomi  and  E/Uth.     What  are  the  rich 

1 


2  INTRODUCTION  TO 

and  great  more  than  the  mean  and  indigent,  before  God? 
The  greater  part  of  the  kings  and  princes  that  reigned  three 
thousand  years  ago  are  now  utterly  forgotten;  but  the  names 
of  Boaz  and  Ruth  shall  live  whilst  the  world  lasts.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  many  other  precious  saints  lived  in  these  ancient 
times,  whose  names  are  now  not  heard  of  in  this  world.  But 
the  same  God  who  caused  the  names  of  some  to  be  recorded  in 
that  Book  of  Life  which  he  hath  given  us  for  our  instruction, 
hath  recorded  the  names  of  all  of  them  in  another  Book  of 
Life,  to  be  opened  and  read,  at  the  consummation  of  all  things, 
in  the  ears  of  all  mankind. 

That  in  this  life  we  must  expect  changes,  is  another  of  the 
truths  of  which  this  book  reminds  us.  ^Changes  and  war  are 
against  me,'  said  one  of  the  best  men  of  ancient  times.  Naomi, 
one  of  the  best  of  women,  met  with  such  vicissitudes,  that  she 
wished  to  have  her  name  changed  into  Marah.  We  all  know 
that  we  are  constantly  exposed  to  changes,  and  yet  we  all  need 
to  be  put  in  mind  of  it.  One  great  part  of  our  unhappiness 
is,  that  we  forget  the  mutability  of  our  present  condition  ;  and 
therefore,  when  trouble  comes  upon  us,  we  behave  as  if  some 
strange  thing  happened  to  us. 

But  a  lesson  more  useful  and  more  pleasant  is  impressed 
upon  our  minds  by  this  book — that  God  does  not  forsake  those 
who  trust  in  Him  at  the  time  when  they  are  visited  with  the 
bitterest  afflictions.  ^I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble,  to  deliver 
him.'  The  history  before  us  is  a  comment  on  this  promise. 
Many  were  the  afflictions  of  Ruth  and  Naomi;  but  the  Lord 
delivered  them  out  of  them  all,  and,  'according  to  the  days 
wherein  he  had  afflicted  them,  he  made  them  glad.' 

But  what  distinguishes  this  book  from  other  sacred  books 
is,  the  charming  picture  it  gives  us  of  domestic  felicity  in  the 
lowest  rank  of  life,  and  in  persons  deprived  of  those  friends 
to  whom  men  or  women  use  to  look  for  felicity.  Naomi  was 
bereaved,  by  the  king  of  terrors,  of  her  husband  and  of  all  her 
children.  Ruth  was  bereaved  of  the  husband  of  her  youth, 
and  was  left  childless.  They  both  felt  their  griefs  like  women 
of  tender  sensibility  ;  yet  they  were  neither  discontented  nor 
unhappy.     There  were  three  things  which  contributed  to  pre- 


LECTURES   ON    RUTH.  3 

serve  them  from  sinking  into  despondency,  and  that  rendered 
them  happier  under  their  afflictions  than  many  other  persons 
find  themselves  in  tlie  most  prosperous  circumstances. 

Firsty  Their  piety.  They  trusted  in  God.  Naomi  doubt- 
less had  taught  Ruth  the  knowledge  of  the  God  of  Israel  be- 
fore she  brought  her  into  the  land  of  Israel;  for  ^she  came,' 
as  Boaz  says,  '  to  trust  under  his  wings,'  Ruth  ii.  12.  In  the 
low  circumstances  of  both  these  women,  they  hoped  in  God, 
they  submitted  to  his  providence;  and  they  could  not  be  mis- 
erable in  any  situation  in  which  his  providence  placed  them. 

Secondly  J  They  loved  one  another  with  a  fond  affection;  and 
where  there  is  true  love  there  will  be  pleasure,  where  there  is 
mutual  love  there  will  be  happiness. 

Thirdly,  Their  behaviour  towards  one  another  was  a  con- 
tinual expression  of  their  mutual  love.  There  were  none  of 
those  brawlings,  unkind  reflections,  and  fits  of  sullenness, 
between  them  that  often  embitter  domestic  life.  Naomi  never 
complained  of  too  little  respect  from  Ruth,  never  exercised 
her  authority  with  bitterness,  never  distressed  her  daughter- 
in-law  with  peevish  complaints  of  the  afflictions  of  her  former 
life,  or  of  neglect  from  her  kinsmen,  or  of  her  other  friends. 
^The  law  of  kindness  was  in  her  mouth,'  and  it  was  evident, 
from  every  part  of  her  conduct,  that  she  set  as  high  a  value 
on  Ruth's  happiness  as  on  her  own.  Ruth,  on  her  side,  con- 
sidered the  desires  of  her  mother-in-law  as  commands  which 
she  was  happy  to  obey,  and  did  every  thing  in  her  power  to 
compensate  to  her  the  loss  of  her  husband  and  her  sons.  So 
wise  and  affectionate  was  fter  behaviour,  that  the  townsmen 
thought  her  better  to  Naomi  than  seven  sons. 

Our  natural  tempers  will  have  much  influence  to  make  our 
lives  happy  or  miserable.  If  they  are  happy,  they  will  dis- 
pose us  to  be  cheerful,  and  to  promote  cheerfulness  in  others. 
If  they  are  unhappy,  the  bad  effect  of  them  will  be  felt  by  our 
neighbours,  especially  by  those  who  are  under  tlie  same  roof 
with  us.  But  we  are  rational  creatures,  capable  of  instruction 
and  of  reflection.  We  are  all  desirous  of  happiness  ;  and,  if 
we  find  any  thing  in  ourselves  that  makes  it  impossible  to  at- 
tain happiness,  is  it  not  our  wisdom  to  put  it  far  from  us? 


4  INTRODUCllON  TO 

Why  should  a  disease  be  suffered  to  embitter  our  days  and 
endanger  our  lives,  if  a  remedy  can  be  found? 

And  does  not  the  Scripture  furnish  us  with  remedies  for 
every  distemper  of  our  hearts?  The  words  of  God  are  heal- 
ing words.  The  entrance  of  them  gives  light  to  the  under- 
standing, peace  and  purity  to  the  heart.  The  naturally  bad 
tempers  of  men  must  be  changed  where  they  produce  their 
proper  effect.  The  wolf  and  the  lamb,  the  lion  and  the  cow, 
are  made  to  feed  together  where  the  gospel  is  received  by 
faith.  It  must  be  confessed,  that  vestiges  of  our  corrupt  dis- 
positions will  still  continue  to  blemish  our  conduct  till  the 
body  of  sin  be  destroyed;  but,  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from 
glory  to  glory.  Nor  are  the  virtues  of  the  ancient  saints  with- 
out their  effect  upon  the  attentive  reader  of  the  Bible.  Al- 
though Paul  never  ceases  to  call  upon  us  to  ^look  to  Jesus  as  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,'  yet  he  frequently  puts  us  in 
mind  likewise  of  the  advantage  we  may  derive  from  a  due  at- 
tention to  the  virtues  and  graces  which  appeared  in  those  that 
have  gone  before  us  to  heaven.  As  we  all  ought  to  walk  in 
the  steps  of  the  faith  of  our  father  Abraham,  all  women,  as  the 
apostle  Peter  tells  us,  are  bound  to  imitate  Sarah  in  obedience 
to  their  husbands,  and  in  meekness  and  goodness  of  spirit. 
Kaomi  and  Ruth  were  two  of  those  holy  women,  who,  he  says, 
^adorned  themselves,'  as  all  women  ought  to  do,  Svith  that 
ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  is,  in  the  sight  of 
God,  of  great  price.' 

You  are  charmed  with  the  lovely  beauties  of  domestic  har- 
mony and  affection  which  adorned  these  good  women.  You 
praise  them.  You  would  be  glad  to  see  mothers  and  daughters 
by  blood  or  affinity,  husbands  and  wives,  mistresses  and  maid- 
servants, living  together  in  amity,  and  contributing,  as  they 
did,  to  one  another's  felicity.  Why  then  do  you  not  imitate 
them?  Are  your  tempers  so  incurable,  that  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  persuading  you  to  prefer  the  glory  of  God  and  your 
own  happiness,  to  the  gratification  of  humours  and  passions 
which  appear  to  yourselves  detestable? 

Read  this  history,  not  to  gratify  your  curiosity,  but  to  im- 


LECTURES    ON    RUTH.  6 

prove  your  hearts.  Remember  that  you  are  bound,  by  the 
authority  of  God,  to  imitate  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of 
Christ  and  of  his  saints.  The  grace  revealed  in  the  gospel 
teaches  us  to  deny  every  lust  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind,  and 
to  practise  every  lovely  virtue.  The  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
can  subdue  our  rough  tempers,  and  beautify  us  with  those 
graces  of  holiness  by  which  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  adorned; 
and  his  own  Word  is  the  great  mean  which  he  uses  for  ful- 
filling in  us  the  good  pleasure  of  the  divine  goodness.  Not 
only  faith,  but  every  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  meekness,  temperance,  are  pro- 
duced through  the  word  of  truth;  and  the  short  history  of 
Ruth  is  as  really  a  part  of  the  word  of  truth,  as  those  books 
which  give  us  the  history  of  our  Lord's  life  and  death. 

The  female  sex  may  likewise  learn  from  this  book  a  lesson 
of  great  use  to  them — how  they  may  preserve  their  beauty, 
and  make  themselves  am.iable  in  old  age.  It  is  the  glory  of 
those  ^  trees  of  righteousness  which  are  planted  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age.'  It  is  the  privilege 
of  those  women  who  are  adorned  with  the  beauties  of  holiness, 
that  old  age  does  not  wither,  but  improves  their  beauties. 
Sarah's  face  was  so  lovely  at  ninety  years  of  age,  that  her 
chastity  was  brought  into  danger  at  the  court  of  Gerar.  The 
daughters  of  Sarah,  in  the  most  advanced  period  of  their  lives, 
possess  beauties  more  charming,  and  less  dangerous.  Naomi 
was  not  less  lovely  than  Ruth,  and,  had  Elimelech  been  alive, 
she  would  have  been  as  dear  to  him  when  she  was  approaching 
to  the  grave,  as  in  the  day  when  he  first  received  her  into  his 
arms. 

The  male  sex,  as  well  as  the  female,  may  derive  useful  in- 
struction from  this  book.  Consider  Boaz  as  a  master,  as  a 
friend,  as  a  neighbour,  as  a  man  of  consequence  and  wealth, 
as  an  honest  man.  In  all  these  respects,  you  will  find  him 
worthy  of  esteem  and  imitation. 

If  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  masters  and  servants,  do 
not  find  useful  instruction  in  this  book,  the  fault  is  their  own. 
It  is  easily  understood,  and  scarcely  needs  a  comment  for  ex- 
plication.    But  it  may  be  useful  to  have  some  of  those  prac- 


6  INTEODTJCTION  TO   LECTURES   ON  RUTH. 

tical  instructions  which  it  contains  set  before  us,  that  we  may 
be  assisted  in  meditating  upon  this  part  of  the  Word  of  God. 
It  was,  doubtless,  one  of  those  books  of  Scripture  in  which 
David  found  such  delightful  and  nourishing  food  to  his  soul. 
O  that  the  holy  Spirit,  who  wrought  so  powerfully  in  the 
heart  of  that  blessed  man,  would  work  in  us  the  same  tem- 
per! Then  we  would  find  a  feast  for  our  souls  in  every  por- 
tion of  Scripture.  Our  days  would  be  a  continual  festival, 
because  we  could  always  find  food  ready  at  hand,  more  de- 
lightful to  our  taste  than  honey  from  the  comb. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  RUTH 


LECTURE  I. 


ELIMELECK  AND  HIS  FAMIIiY  GO  TO  SOJOURN  IN  THE  LAND  OF  MOAU. 
CHAPTER  I.  1-5. 

The  intention  of  this  history,  according  to  some,  is,  to  trace 
the  genealogy  of  David  from  Salmon,  the  son  of  Nahshou, 
prince  of  the  children  of  Judah  at  the  death  of  Moses.  But 
this  part  of  the  genealogy  of  David  and  of  Christ,  could  have 
been  given  us  without  writing  a  whole  book.  It  is  given  us 
in  not  more  than  two  verses  by  the  writer  of  the  first  book  of 
Chronicles,  1  Chron.  ii.  11,  12, 15,  and  in  little  more  than  one 
by  Matthew,  chap.  i.  5,  6. 

The  reading  of  the  book  is  sufficient  to  convince  us,  that  it 
was  written  to  furnish  us  with  the  most  useful  instructions  in 
righteousness.  It  gives  us  a  beautiful  picture  of  female  vir- 
tue, first  shining  in  the  midst  of  poverty,  and  then  crowned 
with  felicity.  Let  all  women  read  this  book,  and  learn  those 
virtues  which  will  adorn  them  with  honor  and  beauty.  Let 
poor  and  afflicted  women  read  this  book,  and  learn  to  bear 
their  troubles  with  a  becoming  sense  of  the  divine  agency 
in  their  trials,  with  patience,  with  meekness,  with  all  those 
gracious  tempers  which  will  endear  them  to  their  friends,  and 
furnish  them  with  agreeable  reflections  at  the  end  of  their  dis- 
tresses. 

But  why  should  we  speak  at  present  of  all  these  precious 


8  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  T. 

advantages  which  may  be  gained  from  this  book  ?  Every  part 
of  it  is  rich  in  instruction,  and  the  instruction  is  conveyed  to 
us  in  a  story,  which  never  failed  to  interest  any  reader  who 
was  not  utterly  destitute  of  human  sensibilities. 

Verse  1. — Now  it  came  to  pass,  in  the  days  when  the  judges 
ruled,  that  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land:  and  a  certain  man  oj 
Bethlehem.- Judah  loent  to  sojourn  hi  the  country  of  Moab,  he,  and 
his  icife,  and  his  two  sons. 

AVe  are  not  told  the  precise  time  of  the  story  recorded  in 
this  book.  And  why  should  we  be  solicitous  to  know  what 
God  has  not  put  it  in  our  power  to  know?  One  thing  appears 
certain,  that  Ruth  became  the  wife  of  a  son  of  Rahab  the  har- 
lot, who  was  famous  for  her  faith  and  her  works  in  the  time 
of  Joshua.  But  we  have  reason  likewise  to  believe  that  Boaz, 
the  son  of  Rahab,  was  a  very  old  man  when  he  married  Ruth, 
for  he  was  the  grandfather  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David.  Be- 
tween the  entrance  of  Joshua  into  Canaan,  and  the  birth  of 
David,  there  intervened  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  years, 
which  are  to  be  divided  amongst  four  progenitors  of  that  il- 
lustrious prince. 

Now  it  came  to  joass  in  the  days  of  the  judges  who  ruled  Israel, 
that  is,  in  the  time  when  Israel  was  not  under  regal  govern- 
ment, but  after  the  days  of  Joshua.  The  expression  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  a  judge  ruled  at  the  time  when  Elime- 
lech  went  into  the  country  of  Moab.  It  was  a  famine  that 
drove  him  from  his  own  country;  and  famines,  with  other 
public  calamities,  were  most  frequent  in  the  intervals  of  the 
government  of  the  judges. 

There  was  a  famine  in  the  land.  The  land  of  Israel  was  a 
land  of  milk  and  honey,  the  pleasant  land  which  God  had 
chosen  for  his  people  Israel ;  and  yet  we  often  read  of  famines 
in  this  land.  Think  not  that  the  fertility  of  a  land  is  able  to 
secure  its  inhabitants  against  famine,  or  that  any  earthly  ad- 
vantage is  sufficient  to  secure  us  against  any  calamity  what- 
soever. All  things  are  in  the  hand  of  God,  and  his  creatures 
change  their  qualities  or  effects  at  his  pleasure.  Without  him, 
we  should  die  of  hunger  amidst  plenty,  we  should  be  miserable 
amidst  all  possible  means  of  happiness.     But,  through  the 


CHAP.  I.  1-5.  OF   RUTH.  9 

kindness  of  his  providence,  many  have  been  well  satisfied  in 
the  days  of  famine,  or  in  a  waste  liowling  wilderness. 

But  why  does  God  send  a  famine  on  the  land  whicli  he  had 
chosen  for  his  own  people;  upon  the  seed  of  Abraham,  whom 
God  had  called  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldees,  to  give  this 
fertile  land  to  his  seed?  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  this 
famine  was  well  deserved  by  the  sins  of  the  people;  for  the 
Lord  had  promised,  that  as  long  as  they  walked  in  his  law, 
they  should  enjoy  his  blessing  on  their  land,  on  their  basket, 
and  on  their  store.  But  he  had  threatened  famine,  and  many 
other  calamities,  as  the  just  reward  of  their  deeds  if  they  should 
apostatize  from  him. 

We  have  never  felt  famine,  although  we  have  well  deserved 
it.  We  have  indeed  felt  scarcity,  and  stood  in  fear  of  famine. 
But  the  Lord  hath  hitherto  dealt  wondrously  with  us,  in  sup- 
plying us  with  the  necessaries,  and  many  of  us  with  the  com- 
forts of  life.  Let  us  bless  God  who  hath  hitherto  preserved 
us  from  this  terrible  judgment.  Let  us  be  deeply  sensible  that, 
whatever  we  may  want  of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  we  have 
much  more  than  we  deserve.  In  days  of  scarcity,  let  us  call 
to  mind  those  famines  in  which  the  sufferers  would  have 
thought  themselves  happy  as  kings,  if  they  could  have  been 
supplied  but  once  in  two  or  three  days  with  that  bread  which 
we  eat  e\  ery  day  of  our  life. 

And  a  certain  man  of  Bethlehem- Judah  tvent  to  sojourn  in  the 
country  of  Moah.  The  Jews  often  gave  names  to  persons,  or 
places,  expressive  of  something  that  was  true  concerning  them. 
Bethlehem,  which  signifies  the  Hiouse  of  bread,'  seems  to  have 
been  a  place  famous,  even  in  the  pleasant  land,  for  its  fertility. 
Yet  even  in  this  fruitful  district  of  a  fruitful  country,  famine 
prevailed  to  such  a  degree,  that  one  of  its  proprietors  was  com- 
pelled, by  the  want  of  bread,  to  leave  it,  and  seek  food  in  a 
foreign  country.  We  may  reasonably  conjecture,  from  the 
behaviour  of  Naomi,  that  her  husband  was  a  fearer  of  God. 
And  yet  he  is  forced  to  seek  bread  in  the  land  of  Moab,  where 
his  God  was  unknown.  Men  are  commonly  attached  to  their 
native  soil ;  but  none  among  us  is  so  much  attached  to  his 
native  country,  as  the  ancient  Israelites  were  to  theirs;  those  of 


10  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  I. 

them  especially  who  were  lovers  of  the  religion  of  the  God  of 
their  fathers.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  a  Scotsman 
going  to  America,  and  an  Israelite  going  to  dwell  in  the  land 
of  Moab.  In  many  places  of  America,  our  God  and  our  Sa- 
viour is  as  well  known  as  amongst  ourselves.  Should  you 
want  bread  at  home,  you  would  not  account  it  a  very  great 
hardship  to  go  to  a  strange  land,  where  you  might  find  bread 
to  your  bodies,  and  at  the  same  time  find  provision  for  your 
souls.  But  you  would  almost  perish  with  hunger  rather  than 
go  to  live  among  the  Turks;  and  yet  the  Turks  are  not  so 
great  enemies  to  the  name  of  Christ,  as  the  Moabites  were  to 
the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel. 

Some  blame  this  Ephrathite  for  going  to  sojourn  in  the  land 
of  Moab.  Why  (say  they)  did  he  not  rather  bear  all  the  hard- 
ships of  famine,  as  well  as  his  neighbors,  rather  than  go  to 
dwell  amongst  heathens, — amongst  such  heathens  as  the  Mo- 
abites, of  whom  the  Lord  had  said,  ^  Even  to  their  tenth  gen- 
eration, they  shall  not  enter  into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord 
for  ever;  thou  shalt  not  seek  their  peace  nor  their  prosperity 
all  thy  days  for  ever?' 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enquire,  nor  is  it  perhaps  possible  to 
determine  with  certainty,  whether  this  Bethlehemite  did  right 
or  wrong  in  going  to  sojourn  in  the  land  of  Moab.  Yet  no 
man  ought  to  be  condemned,  whether  dead  or  alive,  without 
proofs  of  guilt;  and  no  certain  proofs  of  guilt  appear  in  the 
present  case.  Undoubtedly,  the  people  of  God  were  com- 
manded not  to  mingle  themselves  with  the  heathens,  lest  they 
should  learn  their  ways;  but  they  were  not  absolutely  pro- 
hibited to  sojourn  in  a  strange  land.  When  imperious  ne- 
cessity forced  David  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Kedar,  or  in  the 
city  of  Gath,  or  Ziklag,  he  was  to  be  pitied  rather  than  blamed. 

The  children  of  Israel  were  forbidden  to  do  any  servile  work 
on  the  Sabbath  day ;  and  yet  when  the  disciples  were  accused 
for  rubbing  the  cars  of  corn  to  prepare  them  for  food  on  that 
day,  our  Lord  justified  their  conduct  on  the  ground  of  necessity, 
and  silenced  his  enemies  by  producing  the  example  of  David ; 
whom  these  hypocrites  themselves  did  not  blame  for  eating, 
when  hunger  compelled  him,  that  show-bread  which  it  was 


CHAP.  I.  1-5.  OP  RUTH.  11 

lawful  for  the  priests  only,  in  ordinary  cases,  to  eat.  And 
have  we  not  read  what  David  did  in  another  case,  how  he  sent 
his  father  and  mother  to  the  king  of  Moab,  to  dwell  with  him, 
till  he  knew  what  God  would  do  for  him? 

It  is  not  certain  that  none  but  this  Bethlehemite  went  at 
this  time  to  sojourn  in  Moab.  We  read  of  Israelites  that 
dwelt  in  Moab,  and  attained  high  stations  in  it,  although  we 
cannot  tell  at  what  period,  1  Chron.  iv.  22,  23.  Nor  can  we 
tell  what  connections  might  be  formed  amongst  individuals  of 
Israel  and  of  Moab,  when  both  nations  w^ere  under  one  lord. 
Judges  iii.  14.  If  Naomi's  family  were  like  herself,  they  could 
not  but  conciliate  the  regard  and  love  of  all  that  knew  them, 
whether  Moabites  or  Israelites.  A  sweet  temper  disarms  the 
fierceness  of  savages. 

It  seems  probable  that  this  family  lived  under,  or  near  the 
time  of  Ehud^s  administration,  although  we  cannot  certainly 
tell  why  they  chose  rather  to  go  to  the  land  of  Moab  than  to 
any  other  country.  One  thing  is  evident,  that  there  was  plenty 
of  bread,  and  to  spare,  in  the  land  of  Moab,  when  little  was  to 
be  had  in  the  land  of  Israel.  What  shall  we  say  to  this? 
Were  the  Israelites  greater  sinners  than  the  Moabites?  or  were 
they  less  favored  by  that  God  who  causeth  the  corn  to  grow 
up  out  of  the  earth?  Neither  of  these  conclusions  would  be 
just.  The  Moabites  were  great  sinners,  for  they  were  apos- 
tates from  the  religion  of  their  father  Lot,  and  worshippers  of 
Chemosh.  But  God  then  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their 
own  way,  except  his  chosen  people.  *Them  only  he  knew  of 
all  the  families  of  the  earth,  therefore  he  punished  them  for 
their  iniquities.'  Because  God  was  gracious  to  them,  he  would 
not  suffer  them  to  walk  in  their  own  ways,  that  he  might  turn 
them  again  to  himself 

Many  times  was  Israel  afiQicted  by  various  calamities,  but 
'  Moab  was  at  ease  from  his  youth.'  Was  Moab,  then,  happier 
than  Israel?  No,  in  no  wise.  He  was  miserable.  ^He  was 
at  ease  from  his  youth,  and  he  settled  on  his  lees,  neither  did 
he  go  into  captivity ,  therefore  his  taste  remained  in  him,  and 
his  scent  was  not  changed.  Therefore,  behold  the  days  came 
at  last,  that  the  Lord  sent  wanderers  that  caused  him  to  wan- 


12  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  I. 

der,  and  emptied  his  vessels,  and  brake  his  bottles.'  Elimelech 
went  to  sojourn  in  the  country  of  Moab;  not  to  dwell  there 
longer  than  necessity  compelled  him.  He  chose  rather  to 
dwell  in  the  Lord's  land  than  any  where  else;  but  who  can 
endure  the  rage  of  hunger  ?  We  cannot  always  dwell  where 
we  wish,  but  if  at  any  time  we  are  forced  to  sojourn  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  place  where  God's  name  is  known  and  preached, 
our  hearts  ought  to  be  left  in  the  sanctuary.  David  was  some- 
times compelled  to  sojourn  in  the  tents  of  Kedar,  but  he  ever 
loved  the  habitation  of  God's  house,  and  his  heart  was  poured 
out  within  him  when  he  thought  of  the  pleasures  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. 

He,  and  his  wife,  and  his  two  sons.  It  is  possible  that  if  he 
had  wanted  a  family,  he  might  have  been  able  to  live  at  home. 
In  times  of  extreme  scarcity,  a  family  may  be  as  a  heavy  bur- 
den upon  the  minds  of  the  poor,  whoknownot  how  to  satisfy 
the  appetites  of  their  little  ones,  and  cannot  open  their  under- 
standings to  make  them  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  wanting 
what  cannot  be  had.  Our  Lord  speaks  of  times  when  it  is 
miserable  to  be  with  child  or  to  give  suck;  and  Paul  tells 
married  persons,  that  they  ought,  in  times  of  distress,  to  look 
for  troubles  in  the  flesh.  Beware,  however,  of  dissatisfaction 
with  the  providence  of  God,  which  has  given  you  families. 
Amidst  all  the  anxiety  that  you  feel  about  the  means  of  their 
subsistence,  would  you  be  willing  to  lose  any  of  them  ?  Would 
you  not  rather  rise  early  and  sit  up  late,  and  eat  the  bread  of 
sorrow,  in  laboring  for  their  subsistence  ? 

The  man's  wife,  with  his  two  sons,  went  with  him.  We 
are  not  told  whether  Naomi  was  willing  to  go  to  a  strange 
land,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  she  was  willingly 
obedient  to  her  husband.  She  was  one  of  those  wives  whose 
law  is  their  husband's  will  in  all  things  wherein  the  laws  of 
God  leave  them  at  liberty.  These  are  the  women  who  are 
qualified  to  give  and  to  receive  happiness  in  the  married  state. 
But  those  men  are  brutes,  rather  than  husbands,  who  put  the 
temper  of  such  wives  to  a  severe  trial,  when  irresistible  ne- 
cessity does  not  compel  them.  It  was  necessity  that  com- 
pelled the  Bethlehemite  to  remove  his  family  to  the  land  of 


CHAP.  I.  1-5.  OF   RUTH.  .  13 

]\foab.  His  wife  saw  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  therefore 
she  did  not  think  of  returning,  when  she  was  become  her  own 
mistress,  till  the  necessity  was  removed. 

Verse  2. — And  the  name  of  the  man  was  Elimelech,  and  the 
name  of  his  %mfe  Naomi y  and.  the  names  of  his  two  sons  Mahlon 
and  Chillony  Ephrathites  of  Bethlehem- Judah.  And  they  came 
into  the  country  of  Moab,  and  continued  there. 

The  mention  of  the  names  of  the  father,  mother,  and  sons, 
gives  an  air  of  truth  to  the  narration,  and  tends  to  interest  us 
in  their  fortunes.  When  we  know  the  names  of  persons,  we 
seem  to  ourselves  to  be  in  some  degree  acquainted  with  them, 
and  therefore  when  we  hear  of  any  remarkable  event  befalling 
any  person,  we  wish  to  know  his  name,  although  we  can  have 
no  opportunity  of  ever  seeing  him. 

We  are  not  told  of  what  lineage  this  family  was,  but  we 
learn  afterwards  that  they  were  nearly  related  to  the  noblest 
of  the  families  of  Judah.  Chilion  and  Mahlon  were  almost 
the  nearest  of  the  kinsmen  of  Boaz,  who  was  the  son  of  Sal- 
mon, the  son  of  Nahshon,  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  in  the 
days  of  Moses.  Greatness  will  secure  no  families  from  poverty 
and  want.  Many  who  once  rode  in  their  own  chariots,  have 
been  compelled  to  subsist  on  the  bounty  of  others. 

The  family  were  Ephrathites  of  Bethlehem- Judah.  '  Bethle- 
hem was  not  the  least  among  the  cities  of  Judah.'  It  was  the 
city  of  Boaz,  the  city  of  David,  the  city  ^  out  of  which  came 
forth  to  God  that  Ruler  of  Israel,  whose  goings  forth  were  of 
old  from  everlasting.'  What  city  ever  deserved  so  well  to  be 
renowned,  except  Jerusalem,  where  God  long  dwelt;  where 
Jesus  himself  preached;  and  from  whence  his  word  of  grace 
went  forth  to  the  nations? 

And  they  came  into  the  country  of  3foab,  and  continued  there. 
In  the  former  verse,  we  are  told  that  they  went  to  sojourn  in 
the  country  ofMoah.  They  set  out  from  their  own  country  with 
a  design  to  sojourn  in  the  land  of  Moab.  Here  we  learn  that 
they  actually  accomplished  their  purpose  of  going  into  the 
country  of  Moab,  and  there  they  continued  longer  perhaps 
than  they  wished  or  intended.  They  hoped  that  in  a  year  or 
two  they  might  find  it  convenient  to  return  to  the  land  of 


14  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  I. 

Israel.  When  we  go  from  home,  it  depends  entirely  on  the 
will  of  God  whether  we  shall  arrive  at  the  place  of  our  desti- 
nation. When  we  are  in  it,  it  depends  no  less  on  the  divine 
pleasure  whether  we  shall  ever  again  see  the  place  from  which 
we  went  out.  ^  A  man's  heart  deviseth  his  way,  but  the  Lord 
directeth  his  steps.'  Beware  of  bringing  upon  yourselves  the 
punishment  that  came  upon  the  proud  king  of  Babylon,  be- 
cause he  did  not  glorify  that  God  in  whose  hand  his  breath 
was,  and  whose  were  all  his  ways.  Do  you  say,  that  to-morrow 
you  will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  buy,  and  sell,  and  get  gain? 
Say  rather.  If  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live,  and  go  into  that 
city.  In  Him  you  live,  in  Him  you  move,  in  Him  you  have 
your  being. 

Verse  3. — And  Ellmelech,  Naomi's  husband,  died,  and  she  was 
left  and  her  two  sons. 

'What  is  our  life?  It  is  a  vapour  which  appeareth  only 
for  a  little  while,  and  then  vanisheth  away.'  Elimelech  went 
only  to  sojourn  in  the  country  of  Moab;  but  the  same  reasons 
which  compelled  him  to  go  to  that  land,  compelled  him  to 
continue  in  it,  till  a  stronger  necessity  compelled  him  to  go 
the  way  whence  he  was  never  to  return.  Amidst  all  your 
trials,  remember  that  the  greatest  of  all  trials  is  approaching, 
and  perhaps  nearer  than  you  imagine.  Do  you  fear  that  you 
shall  want  bread  in  times  of  scarcity?  Perhaps  before  they 
are  at  an  end  your  lives  may  end.  Are  you  obliged  to  leave 
your  native  fields?  The  time  is  fast  approaching  when  you 
must  leave  the  world.  Why  should  dying  creatures  be  per- 
plexed about  things  that  they  may  never  need,  and  at  most 
cannot  enjoy  long?  Death  will  soon  level  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  most  affluent  and  the  most  indigent  of  the  sons  of 
men ;  and,  therefore,  let  the  rich  enjoy  their  portion  in  this 
world  without  abusing  it,  or  placing  their  confidence  in  what 
must  be  theirs  but  a  very  short  time.  And  let  not  the  poor 
be  greatly  dejected  by  the  want  of  what  they  cannot  long  need. 
If  we  can  procure  but  '  food  and  raiment,  let  us  therewith  be 
content ;  for  we  brought  nothing  into  the  world  with  us,  and 
it  is  certain  that  we  can  carry  nothing  hence.' 

And  she  was  left,  and  her  two  sons.     It  was,  no  doubt,  a  grief 


CHAP.  I.  1-5.  OF  EUTH.  15 

to  Elimelech,  if  he  felt  the  approaches  of  death,  to  leave  his 
wife,  and  his  two  young  sons,  in  a  strange  land,  in  a  land  of 
heathens,  poor,  and,  for  aught  we  know,  almost  friendless. 
When  you  choose  your  place  of  abode,  if  you  have  families,  or 
may  have  families,  let  this  be  one  principal  consideration, 
where  you  will  leave  them  if  God  should  call  you  out  of  the 
world.  What  cheerless  prospects  must  present  themselves  to 
the  view  of  a  good  man  leaving  a  young  family  in  the  midst 
of  neighbors  that  have  never  heard  of  the  grace  of  God,  or 
never  paid  any  regard  to  what  they  have  heard ! 

She  was  left  of  her  husband  with  two  sons.  How  much 
was  this  good  woman  to  be  pitied !  She  was  left  in  a  state  of 
indigence.  Her  sons,  very  probably,  were  come  to  that  time 
of  life  in  which  they  might  be  of  some  use  to  her;  but  she  had 
lost  that  friend  in  whom  her  hope  rested  for  the  support  and 
government  of  her  family  in  its  distressed  and  dangerous  con- 
dition. I  call  its  condition  dangerous,  not  because  they  were 
in  a  country  of  enemies  to  their  nation,  although  the  Moabites 
were  seldom  the  friends  of  Israel,  but  because  they  dwelt  in  a 
land  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Chemosh.  Without  the  com- 
forts of  religion,  Naomi's  heart  must  have  died  within  her; 
yet  in  a  short  time  afterwards,  the  Lord  added  new  affliction 
to  her  former  griefs. 

Verse  4. — AtuI  they  took  them  wives  of  the  women  of  Iloah  ; 
the  name  oj  the  one  was  Orpah,  and  the  name  of  the  other  Ruth: 
and  they  dwelt  there  about  ten  years. 

Many  blame  these  young  men  for  marrying  wives  of  the 
daughters  of  Moab;  and  certainly  they  were  much  to  be  blamed 
for  marrying  them,  if  they  had  not  credible  evidence  that  these 
young  women  were  convinced  of  the  folly  of  worshiping  Che- 
mosh, and  cordially  disposed  to  join  with  their  husbands  in  the 
worship  of  the  God  of  Israel.  When  Ezra  was  informed  that 
the  holy  seed  had  mingled  themselves  with  the  Moabites,  and 
with  other  idolatrous  nations,  by  marrying  their  daughters, 
he  was  filled  with  almost  inconsolable  grief.  Nothing  but  the 
expulsion  of  the  strange  wives  could  dispel  his  anxious  appre- 
hensions of  the  wrath  of  God,  merited  by  the  conjunction  of 
the  men  of  Israel  with  the  people  of  these  abominations. 


16  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  I. 

If  Mahlon  and  Chilion  had  good  reason  to  think  that  their 
intended  wives  were  sincere  proselytes  to  their  religion,  they 
deserve  no  blame,  but  rather  praise.  But  whether  they  were 
justifiable  or  excusable,  or  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  it  is 
perhaps  impossible  for  any  man  to  determine,  because  we  have 
not  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Cer- 
tain it  is,  that  Salmon  did  well  in  marrying  Kahab,  who  be- 
longed to  a  worse  race  of  people  than  the  Moabites,  for  she 
renounced  the  idols  and  abominations  of  her  country,  and 
showed  her  faith  in  the  God  of  Israel  by  her  works.  Perhaps 
the  example  of  Salmon,  to  whom  this  family  was  related,  in- 
duced them  to  venture  upon  this  alliance  with  strangers.  But 
why  should  we  pronounce  a  sentence  against  any  man,  when 
we  are  neither  called  to  be  his  judges,  nor  furnished  with  means 
forjudging? 

This  we  know  with  certainty,  that  whether  Elimelech  did 
right  or  wrong  in  going  with  his  family  into  the  land  of  Moab, 
which  led  the  way  to  their  marriages,  and  whether  the  sons  ot 
Elimelech  did  right  or  wrong  in  contracting  these  marriages, 
the  providence  of  God,  by  what  it  did,  was  accomplishing  its 
own  gracious  purposes.  Ruth  was  one  of  God's  elect  She 
was  to  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the  truth  by 
her  connection  with  the  family  of  Elimelech.  The  happiness 
which  she  gained,  was  a  good  compensation  for  all  the  dis- 
tresses which  this  family  had  endured — for  all  that  the  land 
of  Israel  had  suffered  by  a  ten  years'  famine.  Little  did  the 
pious  remnant  in  Israel  know,  when  they  were  deploring  the 
miseries  of  the  poor,  that  the  famine  was  to  be  subservient  to 
the  salvation  of  a  precious  soul  in  the  land  of  Moab. 

They  dwelt  about  ten  years  in  the  land  of  Moab.  It  seems 
that  Naomi  could  not  return  sooner  on  account  of  the  famine. 
What  a  dreadful  scourge  was  this  famine  of  ten  years  !  We 
need  not  think  it  strange  that  Elisha  sent  away  his  friend  the 
Shunamite  to  sojourn  in  a  strange  land,  when  there  were  to 
be  seven  years  of  famine.  Every  year  in  the  course  of  this 
famine  must  have  made  a  very  great  accession  to  the  miseries 
of  the  poor,  or  rather  of  the  whole  people.  We  find  that  a 
second  year  of  dearth  is  likely  to  be  worse  than  the  firsts  al- 


CHAP.  I.  1-5.  OF   RUTH.  17 

though  the  price  of  provisions  is  not  so  high,  because  money 
is  more  scarce.  What  would  seven  or  ten  years  of  scarcity 
be,  although  they  should  not  amount  to  a  famine?  Blessed  be 
God,  who  has  not  year  after  year  turned  the  rain  of  our  land 
into  powder  and  dust ! 

Verse  5. — And  Mahlon  and  Chilion  died  also,  both  of  them; 
and  the  tcoman  was  left  of  her  two  sons  and  her  husband. 

Poor  woman!  what  will  she  now  do,  bereaved  of  both  her 
sons,  after  her  husband  ?  Might  not  one  of  them  at  leastf  have 
been  spared  for  her  comfort?  Let  us  not  speak  in  this  man- 
ner, lest  we  should  seem  to  charge  God  with  folly.  God's 
thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts.  If  God  loved  this  woman, 
we  think  that  he  would  have  left  her  one  or  another,  at  least, 
of  her  family,  if  not  all  of  them.  Yet  all  of  them  die,  and 
leave  her  desolate  in  the  land  of  Moab,  far  from  all  their  re- 
lations that  were  yet  left  in  Bethlehem!  The  love  or  hatred 
of  God  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  our  feelings,  or  by  our  reason- 
ings, unsupported  by  the  Bible. 

Naomi  might  probably  think  that  she  was  one  of  the  most 
unhappy  women  in  the  land,  when  necessity  compelled  her  to 
leave  the  land  of  Israel.  When  she  afterwards  lost  her  hus- 
band, she  might  think  that  then  only  she  began  to  be  miser- 
able, and  that  she  greatly  erred  when  she  thought  herself  un- 
happy before  this  calamity  befel  her.  But  when  she  after- 
wards lost  first  one  and  then  another  of  her  sons,  new  thoughts 
would  come  into  her  mind.  Then  she  might  suppose  that  she 
had  complained  too  heavily  of  the  loss  of  her  husband,  and 
was  not  duly  thankful  to  God  for  sparing  her  sons.  Now  at 
last,  and  not  before,  she  might  think  that  the  Lord  dealt  bitter- 
ly with  her,  and  had  made  desolate  all  her  company.  When 
heavy  calamities  befal  you,  beware  of  speaking  unadvisedly 
with  your  lips.  Beware  of  gloomy  and  impatient  thoughts. 
Say  not  that  God  has  bereaved  you  of  all  earthly  comforts, 
when  he  has  reduced  you  to  poverty,  if  your  friends  are  pre- 
served alive.  If  some  of  your  nearest  friends  are  cut  off  by  a 
stroke,  still  you  must  not  say  that  nothing  is  left  to  sweeten 
life,  when  others  are  left  whom  you  love.  It  is  presumptuous 
2 


18  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  I. 

in  mortals,  in  sinful  mortals,  to  think  or  talk  as  if  the  Lord 
had  forgotten  to  be  merciful. 

Naomi's  thoughts  of  God's  dealings  with  her  upon  earth  are 
now  very  different  from  what  they  were  when  these  two  things 
came  upon  her,  the  loss  of  children  and  widowhood.  All 
these  things  appeared  then  to  be  against  her.  But  now  she 
knows  and  sees  that  all  these  things  were  fruits  of  the  love  of 
God.  Amidst  your  perplexing  thoughts  about  the  occurrences 
of  life,  it  will  be  profitable  to  consider  what  you  will  think 
an  hundred  years  hence  of  these  adversities  which  now  spread 
such  a  dismal  gloom  upon  your  spirits.  Blessed  are  the  men 
who  firmly  believe  that  God  is  wiser  than  themselves,  and  who 
act  according  to  that  belief  by  a  patient  resignation  to  God 
under  every  trial.  They  will  see  at  last,  and  they  believe  at 
present,  that  'all  the  paths  of  the  Lord  are  mercy  and  truth 
to  such  as  keep  his  covenant  and  his  testimonies.'  At  last  it 
will  be  found,  that  we  could  not,  without  great  loss,  have 
wanted  any  of  those  trials  of  faith  which  once  were  ready  to 
overwhelm  our  spirits. 


CHAP.  I.  6-10.  OP  KUTH.  19 


LECTURE  II. 


NAOMI'S  RETURN  TO  HER  OWN  COUNTRY. 
CHAPTER  I.  6-10. 

Verse.  6. — Then  she  arose  with  her  daughter s-in-laxCy  that  she 
might  return  from  the  country  of  Moah:  for  she  had  heard  in 
the  country  of  Moah,  how  that  the  Lord  had  visited  his  people  in 
giving  them  bread. 

Naomi  would,  no  doubt,  often  say  within  herself.  Woe  is 
me  that  I  dwell  so  long  in  the  country  of  Moab ;  that  I  sojourn 
year  after  year  amongst  the  worshipers  of  Chemosh !  Yet  she 
found  herself  under  the  unhappy  necessity  of  continuing  among 
them  till  she  could  entertain  the  prospect  of  being  able  to  live 
in  her  own  country.  It  was  David^s  most  earnest  desire,  that 
he  might  dwell  all  the  days  of  his  life  in  the  house  of  the  Lord ; 
yet,  more  than  once,  he  found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  dwell 
amongst  heathens.  But  as  soon  as  God  opened  to  him  the 
way  to  return  to  the  Lord's  land,  he  gladly  and  thankfully 
improved  the  opportunity. 

Naomi  justly  thought  that  the  Lord  called  her  back  to  Beth- 
lehem, when  she  heard  that  he  had  visited  his  people  in  giving 
them  bread.  She  might  now  entertain  rational  hopes  of  find- 
ing the  needful  supports  of  life  in  her  own  land.  She  could 
not  hope  to  make  the  figure  at  Bethlehem  which  she  did  in 
the  days  when  the  candle  of  the  Lord  shined  upon  her  head, 
when  her  husband  was  yet  with  her,  when  her  children  were 
about  her,  when  the  family  estate  supplied  it  with  the  means 
of  keeping  a  plentiful  table;  but  she  might  hope,  by  the  labor 
of  her  hands,  and  the  kindness  of  her  friends,  to  live  in  a  man- 
ner suited  to  the  circumstances  in  which  divine  providence 


20  THE    HISTORY  LECT.  II. 

had  now  placed  her.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  flesh  and  blood  to 
be  reduced  to  a  dependent  condition.  But  humbling  dispen- 
sations of  providence  ought  always  to  be  attended  with  a  cor- 
respondent humility  of  spirit,  unless  we  desire  misery  as  our 
portion,  and,  what  is  still  worse,  to  be  found  fighting  against 
the  Almighty.  His  will  must  be  done;  and,  if  our  will  stand 
in  opposition  to  his,  it  must  bend  or  break. 

She  had  heard  in  the  country  of  Moah,  that  the  Lord  had 
visited  his  people.  In  the  land  of  strangers,  she  was  always 
anxious  to  hear  what  was  passing  in  the  land  of  Israel.  She 
still  took  an  interest  in  that  country  for  her  own  sake,  for  her 
friend^s  and  brethren's  sakes,  for  the  Lord's  sake.  Although 
she  was  dwelling  in  a  land  well  supplied  with  bread  and  wine, 
(Isa.  xvi.  9, 10.)  yet  she  felt  deeply  for  the  poor  Israelites  in 
their  own  land  who  were  punished  with  hunger.  She  mourned 
for  the  long  continuance  of  the  famine,  and  was  filled  with  joy 
in  the  midst  of  her  sorrows,  when  she  heard  that  the  Lord  had 
visited  his  people  in  mercy.  Thus  Nehemiah,  at  the  court  of 
Shushan,  was  ever  careful  to  be  informed  of  what  was  passing 
in  the  land  of  Judah.  He  was  rich  and  great,  and  enjoyed 
the  favor  of  the  greatest  prince  in  the  world ;  but  his  happi- 
ness could  not  be  complete  unless  he  heard  that  his  people 
were  happy. 

The  Lord  visited  his  people  in  giving  them  bread.  'Thou 
visitest  the  earth,  and  waterest  it,'  says  David,  'thou  greatly 
enrichest  it  with  the  river  of  God  which  is  full  of  water,  thou 
preparest  them  corn,  when  thou  hast  so  provided  for  it.'  The 
Psalmist  teaches  us  to  consider  every  fertilizing  shower  from 
heaven,  as  a  kind  of  visitation  from  that  God  who  keeps  the 
clouds  in  his  hand,  and  'turns  them  about  by  his  counsels,  to 
do  whatsoever  he  commands  them  upon  the  face  of  the  world, 
in  the  earth.'  When  Naomi  heard  that  plenty  was  restored 
in  the  land  of  Israel,  she  saw  that  the  Lord  had  visited  his 
people,  and  brought  with  him  a  rich  present  of  suitable  sup- 
plies for  their  necessity.  She  had  seen,  that  even  the  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey  could  not  supply  its  inhabitants 
with  the  necessaries  of  life,  unless  God  were  pleased  to  'hear 
the  heavens,  that  the  heavens  might  hear  the  earth,  and  the 


CHAP.  I.  6-10.  OP  RUTH.  21 

earth  hear  the  corn  and  the  wine  and  the  oil,  that  they  might 
hear  his  people.' 

If  God  after  nine  years  of  scarcity,  should  return  to  us  in 
mercy,  and  give  us  abundance  of  bread  to  eat,  would  we  not 
confess  that  we  could  never  be  sufficiently  thankful  to  God 
for  his  undeserved  bounty?  But  have  we  not  still  greater 
reason  to  be  thankful,  when  scarcity^  is  hardly  felt  in  one  year 
out  often?  Why  should  we  need  cleanness  of  teeth  to  make 
us  sensible  of  that  bounty  by  which  we  are  fed  every  day  of  our 
lives?  If  you  were  in  a  dependent  condition,  and  one  of  your 
friends  should  supply  you  once  in  a  week  with  provisions  for 
your  table,  would  you  not  reckon  yourselves  highly  indebted 
to  his  goodness?  But  would  it  not  be  esteemed  by  you  an 
higher  act  of  kindness  to  make  a  settled  provision  for  your 
subsistence,  that  you  might  never  want  what  is  needful?  If 
rare  mercies  from  God  are  acknowledged  with  thankfulness, 
(and  who  can  be  unthankful  for  them?)  what  praises  are  due 
to  him  for  mercies  showered  down  upon  us  every  day  in  our 
lives ! 

Then  she  arose  with  her  daughters-in-law,  that  she  might  return 
from  the  country  of  Moah. — 

Verse  7. —  Wherefore,  she  went  forth  out  of  the  place  wh^-e 
she  loas,  and  her  two  daughters-in-law  ivith  her;  and  they  loent 
on  the  way  to  return  unto  the  land  of  Judah, 

One  of  these  young  widows,  we  have  reason  to  think,  was 
still  a  heathen.  And  yet  (let  many  Christians  blush!)  she,  as 
well  as  her  religious  sister-in-law,  behaves  in  a  dutiful  and 
respectful  manner  to  her  husband's  mother.  May  we  not  say, 
that  the  daughter  who  behaves  undutifully  to  her  mother,  and 
even  the  daughter-in-law  who  is  an  adversary  to  her  mother- 
in-law,  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel? 
If  your  parents,  by  nature  or  marriage,  were  rich,  you  would 
treat  them  with  respect,  because  you  would  hope  to  share  in 
their  prosperity;  but  Naomi  was  poor,  and  a  stranger  in  the 
land  of  Moab,  and  yet  her  daughters-in-law  treated  her  with 
kindness  while  she  lived  near  them,  and  would  not  suffer  her 
to  leave  the  country  without  accompanying  her  in  the  way, 
and  doing  her  all  the  service  they  could.     Their  husbands 


22  THE  HISTOKY  LECT.  II. 

were  dead.  Their  relation  to  Naomi  might  seem  to  some  to 
be  utterly  dissolved ;  but  their  love  was  strengthened  rather 
than  abated.  And  why  should  it  not?  Are  we  to  withdraw 
our  affections  from  our  friends  because  the  Lord  hath  afflicted 
them  ?  The  death  of  husbands  or  wives  will  not  put  an  end 
to  the  friendship  of  those  who  are  allied  by  marriage,  unless 
there  has  been  bad  behaviour  on  the  one  side,  or  an  ungenerous 
spirit  on  the  other.  That  which  loudly  calls  for  sympathy, 
can  never  be  a  good  reason  for  coldness. 

Verse.  8. — And  Naomi  said  unto  her  two  daughters-in-law,  Go^ 
return  each  to  her  mother^ s  house;  the  Lord  deal  kindly  with  you, 
as  ye  have  dealt  with  the  dead,  and  with  me. 

Orpah  and  Ruth  were  greatly  attached  to  their  mother-in- 
law,  although  their  own  mothers  were  still  alive.  They  did 
not  stand  in  need  of  Naomi's  friendship,  but  she  needed  theirs. 
Her  afflictions  and  desolate  condition  endeared  her  so  much 
to  them,  that  they  seemed  to  pay  more  attention  to  her  than  to 
their  own  mothers;  and,  on  some  accounts,  she  was  better  en- 
titled to  their  sympathy.  She  seems  to  have  travailed  in  birth 
with  them,  that  the  promised  Christ  might  be  formed  in  them, 
and  probably  she  was  in  truth  the  spiritual  mother  of  Ruth. 

Go,  return  each  to  her  mother's  house.  Whether  their  fathers 
were  still  alive,  or  whether  their  mother's  house  is  mentioned 
because  their  intercourse  in  the  house  of  their  parents  would 
chiefly  be  with  their  mothers,  we  cannot  tell. 

The  Lord  deal  kindly  with  you  !  She  blesses  them  when  she 
sends  them  away,  not  in  the  name  of  Chemosh,  but  in  the 
name  of  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel ;  and  thereby  insinuates, 
at  a  time  which  they  could  never  forget,  and  in  words  which 
were  likely  to  be  often  present  to  their  minds,  that  not  the 
gods  of  Moab,  but  the  God  of  Israel,  was  the  eternal  fountain 
of  blessings,  from  ^vhom  every  good  and  perfect  gift  was  to 
be  expected.  Our  speech  ought  to  be  always  seasoned  with 
salt,  but  there  are  particular  seasons  when  our  words  ought 
to  be  ordered  in  consummate  wisdom.  The  words  of  parting 
friends,  who  are  likely  never  again  to  meet,  make  an  impres- 
sion never  to  be  erased.  Who  knows  what  good  may  be  done 
by  such  words,  when  they  breathe  at  once  the  fervour  of  piety 


CHAP.  I.  6-10.  OF   RUTH.  23 

and  of  charity  ?     They  are  like  dying  words,  for  our  friends  are 
then  dead  to  us  when  we  see  them  no  more. 

The  Lord  deal  kindly  loith  yoUy  as  ye  have  dealt  with  the  dead, 
and  with  me.  It  seems  these  two  women  had  been  good  wives 
to  tlieir  husbands,  although  their  husbands  were  poor  men  and 
strangers.  If  they  had  assumed  more  power  over  their  hus- 
bands than  they  ought,  they  would  probably  have  been  sup- 
ported by  their  relations  and  countrymen.  But  they  always 
dealt  kindly  with  them,  and  endeavored  to  render  their  con- 
dition in  a  land  of  strangers  comfortable  and  pleasant.  Nature 
itself,  you  see,  teaches  wives  to  deal  kindly  with  their  husbands, 
for  Moabitesses  were  taught  by  it  to  deal  kindly  with  those 
that  married  them.  Beware,  ye  who  call  yourselves  Christians, 
of  behaving  worse  than  women  that  never  heard  the  duties  of 
wives  enforced  by  such  powerful  motives.  ^  Submit  yourselves 
unto  your  husbands  as  unto  the  Lord ;  for  the  husband  is  the 
head  of  the  wife,  even  as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  church,  and 
he  is  the  Saviour  of  the  body.  Therefore,  as  the  church  is 
subject  unto  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands 
in  every  thing.' 

You  know  not,  husbands  and  wives,  how  long  you  may 
dwell  together.  Death  may  soon  come,  and  will  doubtless, 
sooner  or  later,  come  and  tear  away  the  one  of  you  from  the 
other.  When  that  event  shall  take  place,  how  will  you  wish 
to  have  behaved  ?  Behave  at  present  as  you  would  then  wish 
to  have  behaved,  for  then  you  will  not  be  able  to  bring  back 
the  present  time.  Many  great  miracles  have  been  wrought 
by  the  power  of  God,  but  it  never  did,  nor  ever  will,  recal 
the  time  that  is  past.  How  comfortable  was  it  to  Orpah  and 
Ruth  to  hear  Naomi  say.  Ye  have  dealt  kindly  with  the  dead ! 
And  how  comfortable  was  the  reflection  to  them  through  life, 
that  she  had  reason  to  give  them  this  commendation! 

As  ye  have  dealt  with  the  dead,  and  with  me.  These  amiable 
women  extended  their  kindness  from  their  husbands  to  their 
mother-in-law,  the  only  friend  of  their  husbands  to  whom  they 
could  shew  kindness.  It  is  commonly  supposed,  that  a  widow 
may  hope  to  live  amongst  us  more  comfortably  with  a  son-in- 
law,  than  with  one  of  her  own  married  sons.     This  observation 


24  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  II. 

often  holds  good,  but  not  to  our  honor.  Why  should  not 
dauo^hters-in-law  behave  like  dau2:hters  ?  If  husband  and  wife 
are  one  flesh,  your  husband's  father  is  ^our  father,  your  hus- 
band's mother  is  your  mother.  Why  should  Moabitesses  be- 
have better  than  many  Christian  wives,  and  merit  commenda- 
tions which  cannot,  without  flattery,  be  given  to  those  who 
have  such  superior  advantages  for  knowing  and  for  practising 
their  duty?  I  say  not  this  to  shame  you.  I  know  that  there 
are  some  to  whom  no  reproof  of  this  kind  is  due.  But  are 
there  not  others  who  behave  less  aifectionately  to  their  own 
mothers  than  did  Orpah  and  Ruth  to  the  mother  of  their 
husbands? 

And  with  me.  When  I  speak  of  the  unkind  behaviour  of 
some  wives  to  the  mothers  of  their  husbands,  let  me  give  to 
every  one  her  portion  of  reproof.  The  blame  of  unkind ness 
does  not  always  lie  on  one  side.  If  there  were  more  Naomis, 
there  might  be  more  Orpahs  and  Ruths.  Naomi  was  disposed 
to  take  in  good  part  the  conduct  of  her  daughters-in-law,  and 
to  express  a  grateful  sense  of  the  attentions  that  were  paid  to 
her.  Some  old  women  look  upon  every  instance  of  kindness 
from  their  daughters,  or  their  daughters-in-law,  as  a  debt  for 
which  they  owe  them  no  thanks.  Others  are  so  sullen,  so 
suspicious,  so  fretful,  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  pleasing 
them.  They  turn  the  duty  of  their  children  into  a  hard  task, 
which  they  find  it  impossible  to  perform  with  satisfaction  to 
themselves,  because  it  gives  so  little  satisfaction  to  those  whom 
they  wish  to  serve.  True,  your  children  are  bound  to  honor 
you,  but  they  are  not  bound  to  comply  with  all  your  humours. 
They  are  bound  to  be  the  comforters  of  your  old  age ;  but  how 
can  they  comfort  you,  if  you  refuse  to  take  comfort  in  all  that 
they  can  do  to  please  you?  They  do  no  more  than  their  duty 
when  they  endeavor  to  gild  the  evening  of  your  days  by  their 
dutiful  behaviour ;  but  are  you  not  bound  to  show  a  grateful 
sense  of  their  care  to  perform  their  duty?  You  see  that  Naomi 
thanked  and  blessed  her  daughters-in-law  for  the  kindnesses 
which  they  had  showed  to  herself,  as  well  as  for  their  endeav- 
ors to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  her  sous. 

Verse  9. — The  Lord  grant  you  that  ye  may  find  resty  each  of 


CHAP.  I.  6-10.  OF  RUTH.  25 

you  in  the  house  of  her  husband!  Then  she  hissed  them^  and  tliey 
lifted  up  their  voice  and  wept 

Naomi  did  not  wish  her  daughters-in-law  to  continue  through 
the  remaining  part  of  their  lives  unmarried.  She  was  far 
from  thinking  that  tlieir  entrance  a  second  time  into  the  bond 
of  marriage,  would  be  in  any  degree  inconsistent  with  all  due 
respect  for  the  memory  of  their  first  husbands.  If  ever  they 
should  again  enter  into  this  state  of  life,  as  she  hoped  they 
would  do,  she  wished  them  all  that  happiness  which  they 
might  have  expected  to  enjoy  if  the  Lord  had  been  pleased  to 
spare  the  lives  of  her  sons. 

There  are  seasons,  in  which  unmarried  persons  and  widows 
will  act  wisely  if  they  continue  as  they  are ;  but  there  are  other 
times,  in.  which  it  is  in  general  better  for  the  younger  widows, 
as  well  as  unmarried  women,  to  marry.  We  cannot,  indeed, 
fix  a  rule  which  will  include  all  without  exception,  because 
that  may  be  good  for  one  which  is  not  good  for  another,  whose 
dispositions  or  circumstances  require  a  diiferent  conduct.  There 
are  some  who  err  by  marrying  when  they  ought  not,  or  whom 
they  ought  not  to  marry;  and  there  are  others  who  sin  when 
they  do  not  marry,  as  we  learn  from  the  different  advices 
given  on  this  subject  by  the  apostle  Paul,  1  Cor.  vii.   1  Tim.  v. 

But  whenever  men  or  women  marry,  if  they  are  Avise  for 
themselves,  they  will  take  proper  measures  to  find  satisfaction 
in  that  new  state  of  life;  and  one  of  the  chief  means  to  be  used 
for  this  purpose  is  prayer  to  God.  The  Lord  grant  you  th<d 
each  of  you  may  find  rest  in  the  house  of  her  husband.  'A  pru- 
dent wife  is  from  the  Lord,^  and  a  kind  husband  is  from  the 
Ijord  also;  and,  if  in  any  thing,  surely  in  this  most  important 
step  of  life,  we  are  to  ask  counsel  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  implore  his  blessing.  Let  it  be,  however,  remembered, 
that  if  you  are  sincere  in  seeking  the  blessing  of  God  upon  this 
relation,  you  will  follow  the  directions  of  his  word  in  making 
your  choice.  Have  you  not  a  husband  or  wife  at  present? 
judge  for  yourselves  whether  you  ought,  or  ought  not  to  marry. 
^  Marry  whom  you  will,  only  in  the  Lord.'  Do  you  seek  rest 
in  the  house  of  a  husband,  or  comfort  with  a  wife?  remember 
what  God  says  concerning  the  virtuous  woman,  Prov.  xxxi. 


26  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  II. 

and  what  he  says  in  many  places  of  his  word  concerning  the 
character  of  the  man  whose  conduct  he  approves,  and  to  whom 
he  will  give  his  blessing,  Pro  v.  iii. 

If  it  is  to  be  wished  that  wives  may  find  rest  in  the  houses 
of  their  husbands,  it  must  be  the  duty  of  husbands  to  do  what 
they  can  to  procure  them  rest,  not  only  by  endeavouring  to 
provide  for  them  what  is  necessary  for  their  subsistence  and 
comfortable  accommodation,  but  by  such  a  kind  behaviour  as 
will  promote  their  satisfaction  and  comfort.  Men  and  women 
may  have  afi&uence  without  rest,  and  rest  without  affluence. 
But  let  women  also  contribute  to  procure  rest  for  themselves 
by  frugality,  by  industry,  by  such  behaviour  to  their  husbands 
as  will  merit  constant  returns  of  kindness. 

Then  she  kissed  them,  and  they  lifted  up  their  voice  and  loept. 
They  wept  because  they  were  to  part,  never  again  to  meet,  all 
of  them,  together  in  this  world.  They  had  been  happy  in  one 
another,  and  one  of  the  sorest  afflictions  incident  to  this  life, 
is  the  everlasting  separation  of  those  who  are  mutually  dear. 
But  why  do  we  say  everlasting  separation  ?  There  is  no  ever- 
lasting separation  of  Christian  friends.  Little  was  known  of 
what  we  know  concerning  the  future  state,  by  these  friends  of 
whom  we  are  speaking,  and  there  was  little  ground  of  hope 
that  they  would  all  meet  in  that  state,  if  they  had  known  it; 
for  it  does  not  appear  that  Orpah  was  willing  to  take  up  her 
cross,  and  deny  herself,  to  serve  the  God  of  Israel.  We  that 
are  Christians  have  the  happiness  to  know  with  certainty,  that 
our  separation  from  our  friends  in  Christ  will  not  be  eternal, 
though  it  may  be  long.  Because  it  may  be  long,  we  mourn ; 
because  it  is  not  to  be  eternal,  we  do  not  mourn  as  they  that 
have  no  hope. 

They  lifted  up  their  voice  and  wept,  not  only  at  the  thought 
of  their  long  separation,  but  at  the  recollection  which  rushed 
into  their  minds  at  this  time,  of  many  endearing,  of  many 
sorrowful,  of  many  joyful  circumstances  of  their  past  lives. 
For  such  is  the  precarious  and  changeable  nature  of  worldly 
felicity,  that  even  the  sweetest  joys  of  life  often  make  way  for 
the  most  piercing  griefs.  Our  remembrance  of  pleasures  en- 
joyed, and  to  be  enjoyed  no  more,  spreads  a  dismal  gloom  over 


CHAP.  I.  6-10.  OP  RUTH.  27 

those  pleasures  that  we  might  yet  enjoy.  We  cannot  be  made 
happy  by  a  rich  abundance  of  those  things  which  give  happi- 
ness (such  as  the  world  can  give)  to  others,  because  we  are 
bereaved  of  those  things  in  which  we  placed  too  much  of  our 
happiness. 

This  world  is  a  place  of  mourning  to  all,  but  to  some  more 
than  others,  by  the  afflictive  changes  which  darken  many  of 
their  days.  Let  us  all  seek  to  be  found  in  Him  whose  office  it  is 
to  ^comfort  all  that  mourn.'  Sorrow  is  turned  into  joy  by  him 
who  is  *  the  Consolation  of  Israel.' 

Verse  10. — And  they  said  unto  her,  Surely  we  will  return  with 
thee  unto  thy  people. 

We  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  both  these 
women  in  this  extraordinary  profession  of  attachment  to  Naomi, 
although  one  of  them  was  easily  diverted  from  her  purpose. 
There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  same  mind  at  different 
times.  Orpah's  intention  of  going  with  Naomi,  included  an 
intention  of  serving  Naomi's  God,  and  of  relinquishing  the 
gods  of  Moab ;  for  it  is  not  likely  that  she  thougiit  she  would 
be  permitted  to  practise  the  worship  of  Chemosh  in  the  land 
of  Israel.  We  may  therefore  observe  from  this  place,  that 
you  ought  not  to  mistake  every  purpose  of  being  truly  re- 
ligious, as  a  sign  of  true  grace.  If  you  turn  to  Grod  from  sin, 
with  full  purpose  of,  and  endeavour  after,  new  obedience,  you 
are  true  penitents;  but  this  full  purpose  is  attended  with 
habitual  performance.  'Bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repen- 
tance,' if  you  desire  to  be  esteemed  true  children  of  Abraham. 
If,  like  Orpah,  you  promise  and  intend  to  perform,  but  return 
to  your  former  course  of  life,  your  'goodness  is  like  the  morn- 
ing cloud,  and  like  the  early  dew,  that  goeth  away.' 

Sm^ely  we  will  return  with  thee  unto  thy  people.  They  knew 
but  very  few  of  Naomi's  people ;  but  from  her  own  behaviour, 
and  the  behaviour  of  her  family,  they  judged  that  they  were 
people  with  whom  it  would  be  happy  to  live.  Let  us  all 
endeavour  so  to  live,  as  to  give  strangers  to  religion  favorable 
ideas  of  those  who  profess  it.  The  lewd  conduct  of  nominal 
Christians  has  done  unknown  mischief  in  the  world.  If  all 
Christians  were  attentive  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  their  con- 


28  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  II. 

versation,  stumbling-blocks  would  be  removed  out  of  the  way 
of  the  inconsiderate,  and  the  mouths  of  malicious  enemies 
would  be  stopped.  ^Many,  seeing  onr  good  works,  would 
glorify  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven.'  *  Whatsoever  things 
are  true,  and  honest,  and  j  ust,  and  pure,  and  lovely,  and  praise- 
worthy, think  on  these  things,'  if  you  desire  to  enjoy  peace  in 
your  own  minds,  or  to  be  useful  to  others  around  you. 

May  we  see  more  and  more  of  the  accomplishment  of  the 
prayer  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  all  his  followers  '  may  be  one 
in  the  Father,  and  in  the  Son  j  that  the  world  may  know  that 
he  is  sent  by  the  Father!' 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OP  RUTH.  29 


LECTURE  III. 


THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 
CHAPTER  I.  11-15. 

Verse  11. — And  Naomi  said,  Turn  again,  my  daughters:  why 
will  ye  go  ivith  mef  Are  there  yet  any  more  sons  in  my  vmmb, 
tJtat  they  may  be  your  husbands  f 

Turn  again,  my  daughters.  Naomi  does  not  call  them  her 
daughters-in-law,  but  her  daughters.  They  deserved  to  be 
addressed  by  her  in  this  affectionate  language.  They  were  as 
dutiful  and  affectionate  to  Naomi  as  if  she  had  borne  them. 

Turn  again,  why  will  ye  go  with  mef  We  ought  not,  with- 
out good  reason,  to  leave  the  land  of  our  nativity.  We  are 
not  bound  to  live  all  our  days  in  one  place  or  in  one  country, 
but  we  ought  not  to  change  our  condition  or  country  without 
being  able  to  give  a  good  reason  for  it.  There  is  no  part  of 
the  world  which  the  curse  of  God  hath  not  reached ;  and  if 
we  hope,  by  leaving  our  native  land,  to  leave  the  miseries  of 
life  behind  us,  we  will  be  miserably  disappointed.  Naomi 
had  formerly  too  good  reason  for  coming  into  the  land  of 
Moab,  and  she  had  now  a  very  sufficient  reason  for  leaving  it; 
but  it  was  highly  proper  that  her  daughters-in-law  should 
consider,  before  they  accompanied  her  to  Bethlehem,  whether 
their  reasons  were  as  good  as  her's.  '  As  a  bird  that  wandereth 
from  its  nest,  so  is  a  man  that  wandereth  from  his  place.' 

Are  there  any  sons  in  my  womb,  that  they  should  be  your  hus- 
bands f  Before  the  law  was  given  by  Moses,  it  appears  to 
have  been  customary  in  some  parts  of  the  East,  that  the  wife 
of  a  man  who  died  childless  should  become  the  wife  of  his 
brother;  and  therefore  Judah  doomed  his  daughter-in-law  to 
the  fire  as  an  adulteress,  when  he  hccrd  that  she  had  committed 


30  THE  HISTORY  I.ECT.  lU, 

whoredom  in  the  house  of  her  father,  where  she  was  ordered 
to  continue  till  Shelah,  the  son  of  Judah,  w^as  marriageable. 
But  Orpah  and  Euth  could  have  no  prospect  of  second  mar- 
riages in  the  family  of  Naomi.  She  was  now  childless,  and 
could  have  no  prospect  of  other  children  to  supply  the  place 
of  those  she  had  lost. 

Verse  12. — Turn  agaiuj  my  daughters;  go  your  way;  for  I 
am  too  old  to  have  an  husband.  If  I  should  say,  I  have  hope; 
if  I  should  have  an  husband  also  to-night^  and  should  also  bear 
sons; 

Turn  again  my  daughters ;  go  your  way,  for  I  am  too  old 
to  have  an  husband ;  or,  if  I  should  have  an  husband,  I  can- 
not expect  to  have  any  more  sons ;  or,  if  I  should  have  both 
an  husband  and  sons,  they  would  be  too  long  in  growing  up  to 
maturity  for  becoming  your  husbands.  Naomi  would  have 
preferred  these  two  young  widows  to  all  other  women  as  wives 
for  her  sons,  if  any  sons  had  been  left  to  her.  But  all  her 
sons  were  gone  to  the  land  of  forgetfulness,  and  she  was  not 
foolish  enough  to  think  either  of  a  husband  or  sons  at  her 
time  of  life.  She  did  not  indulge  romantic  hopes,  as  too  many 
do,  of  what  would  never  happen.  There  are  some  who,  in  a 
bad  sense,  hope  against  hope ;  but  their  hopes,  built  upon  a 
foundation  of  sand,  deceive  them,  and  end  in  deserved  misery. 
Naomi  did  not  allow  herself  to  form  such  visionary  expecta- 
tions as  would  end  only  in  disappointment.  The  hand  of  the 
Lord  had  gone  out  against  her,  and  robbed  her  of  her  best 
friends,  and  she  would  not,  like  the  foolish  Edomites,  say, 
*  The  bricks  are  fallen  down,  but  we  will  build  with  hewn 
stones;  the  sycamores  are  cut  down,  but  we  will  build  with 
cedar.'  It  would  add  greatly  to  our  happiness,  if  we  could 
believe  and  improve  that  fundamental  principle  of  our  re- 
ligion, *  If  God  make  peace,  who  can  make  trouble?  but  if  he 
hideth  his  face,  who  can  behold  him;  whether  it  be  done  against 
a  nation,  or  against  a  man  only  ?' 

I  am  too  old  to  have  an  husband.  She  would  not  so  much 
as  think  of  another  husband  in  her  advanced  period  of  life. 
The  apostle  Paul  seems  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  a  woman 
would  scarcely  be  found  at  sixty  years  of  age,  or  upwards,  who 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OP  RUTH.  31 

would  think  of  marriage;  and  therefore,  in  giving  directions 
about  those  female  servants  of  the  church  who  could  not  con- 
veniently perform  the  duties  required  of  them  if  they  were 
married,  he  says,  'Let  no  widow  be  taken  into  the  number  un- 
der sixty  years  of  age.'  Why?  Because  the  younger  widows, 
if  they  were  taken  into  the  number,  might  marry. 

I  am  too  old  to  have  an  husband ;  but  if  I  should  have  an 
husband,  can  I  hope  to  have  children?  Sarah  bore  a  child 
when  she  was  ninety  years  of  age.  But  it  would  be  pre- 
sumptuous to  expect  miracles  in  the  ordinary  course  of  pro- 
vidence. 

Some  people  cannot  think  without  envy,  of  happiness  en- 
joyed by  others  which  themselves  cannot  hope  to  enjoy,  as  if 
the  pleasures  of  others  were  their  punishment.  But  Naomi 
wished  to  each  of  her  daughters-in-law  rest  in  the  house  of  an 
husband,  although  she  herself  was  to  continue  a  desolate  and 
poor  widow.  And  she  hoped  it  would  not  be  a  long  time  till 
she  heard  that  both  of  them  were  happy  in  another  change  of 
life.  I  fear  few  of  us  are  possessed  of  the  generous  charity  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  who  could  say,  *We  are  glad  when  we  are 
weak,  and  ye  are  strong.' 

If  I  should  say  that  I  have  hope;  if  I  should  have  an  husband 
also  to-night,  and  should  hear  sons, 

Verse  13. —  Would  ye  tarry  for  them  till  they  were  grownf 
Would  ye  stay  for  them  from  having  husbands?  Nay,  my  daugh- 
ters; for  it  grieveth  me  much  for  your  sakes,  that  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  is  gone  out  against  me. 

Extremes  in  every  thing  are  to  be  avoided.  Some,  too  pre- 
cipitately, rush  into  the  married  state.  They  do  not  duly 
deliberate  about  this  important  step  of  life.  They  do  not  con- 
sult with  those  friends  who  have  a  right  to  give  their  mind, 
and  they  do  not  take  time  to  consult  with  God,  'from  whom  every 
good  gift  Cometh.'  But  others  are  too  dilatory  about  entering 
into  the  married  state.  The  bad  effects  of  undue  delay  of 
marriage  have  often  appeared  in  the  licentious  conduct  of  the 
young.  It  was  the  desire  of  Naomi,  not  only  that  her  daugh- 
ters-in-law might  find  rest,  each  of  them  in  the  house  of  an 
husband,  but  that  they  might  find  it  while  the  years  of  their 


32  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  III. 

youth  yet  continued  with  them.  Suppose  the  possibility  that 
she  might  yet  have  children,  would  ye  tarry  for  them  till  they 
were  grown  f     Would  ye  stay  for  themfi^om  having  husbands  f 

Nayy  my  daughters;  for  it  grieveth  me  much  for  your  sahes  that 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  gone  forth  against  me.  She  was  grieved 
for  her  own  sake  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  gone  out 
against  her,  and  yet  she  would  have  borne  it  much  more  easily 
if  she  herself  had  been  the  only  sufferer.  That  she  was  a 
widow,  and  childless,  appeared  hard  to  her ;  but  it  distressed 
her  no  less  to  think  that  her  amiable  daughters-in-law  were 
become  widows  in  the  days  of  their  youth,  especially  when  she 
thought,  as  she  was  disposed  to  do,  that  their  affliction  was  the 
effect  of  a  quarrel  that  God  had  with  herself. 

This  is  a  great  aggravation  of  the  afflictions  of  many  parents, 
that  their  children  are  involved  with  themselves.  They  could 
bear  poverty,  they  could  bear  reproach,  they  could  bear  death 
itself,  had  they  none  who  depended  on  them  for  bread  and  for 
respectability  in  the  world.  But  it  appears  hard  to  them,  that 
their  innocent  babes,  or  their  affectionate  children  in  a  more 
advanced  period  of  life,  should  suffer  along  with  them.  Under 
this  covert,  we  are  too  apt  to  hide  from  ourselves  our  impatience 
under  the  dispensations  of  divine  providence.  God  has  the 
same  right  to  rule  over  the  fruit  of  our  bodies  as  over  our- 
selves, and  to  allot  to  them  their  share  of  the  good  or  the  bad 
things  of  this  world. 

It  is  bitterest  of  all,  when  we  have  reason  to  think  that  our 
sins  have  provoked  God  to  punish  us  in  the  persons  of  our 
friends,  or  to  inflict  those  strokes  which  our  friends  must  feel 
fis  heavily  as  ourselves.  Let  us  beware  of  ever  exposing  our- 
selves to  such  heart-piercing  reflections  by  conduct  that  may 
bring  down  God's  displeasure  upon  our  families.  Let  us  hum- 
ble ourselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  and  commit  to 
his  disposal  our  families  as  well  as  ourselves.  David  procured 
the  death  of  his  little  child,  and  threatenings  of  heavy  judg- 
ments upon  others  of  his  family,  by  his  sin.  But  let  us  re- 
member what  method  David  took  to  recover  his  peace  of  mind, 
and,  if  we  are  in  like  circumstances,  follow  his  example; 2  Sam. 
xii.  Psalm  li. 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OF   EUTH.  33 

God's  people  may  sometimes,  without  good  reason,  tliink 
that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  gone  forth  against  them,  in  the 
calamities  Avhich  befal  their  families  or  friends.  David  had 
good  grounds  for  humbling  himself  under  the  hand  of  God 
gone  forth  against  himself  in  the  disasters  that  befel  his  family; 
but  Job  had  no  reason  to  think  that  his  children  were  taken 
away  by  God  either  for  their  own  or  their  father's  transgres- 
sion. Satan  ^  moved  the  Lord  against  that  good  man  to  destroy 
him  without  cause.'  Our  afflictions  are  hard  enough  to  be 
borne  by  us,  without  tlie  addition  of  groundless  reflections 
against  ourselves.  At  the  same  time,  the  error  is  much  more 
common  of  insensibility  to  the  divine  displeasure,  when  it  has 
been  really  kindled  by  our  sins,  than  of  vexing  ourselves  with 
unjust  suspicions  of  God's  anger.  But  it  will  be  our  wisdom 
to  guard  against  mistakes  fatal  to  our  peace  of  mind,  as  well 
as  those  which  indicate  an  unhumbled  spirit.  Nothing  is  more 
unlike  a  saint  than  stupidity  under  divine  corrections,  whether 
they  come  upon  us  in  our  own  persons,  or  in  the  persons  of 
our  friends;  but  few  things  are  more  unfavorable  to  the  pro- 
gress of  holiness  than  groundless  jealousies  entertained  and 
cherished  concerning  the  dealings  of  divine  providence  in  the 
management  of  our  concerns. 

There  is  one  thing  that  still  remains  to  be  considered  con- 
cerning this  parting  speech  of  Naomi  to  her  daughters-in-law. 
"Why  did  she  dissuade  them  from  going  with  her  to  the  land 
of  Judah,  where  the  true  God  was  well  known;  and  persuade 
them  to  return  to  a  country  of  abominable  idolaters,  where 
they  would  be  carried  down  the  stream  of  general  practice  into 
the  abyss  of  perdition?  ^Because  of  such  things'  as  are  com- 
monly practised  by  the  heathen,  Hhe  wrath  of  Godcometh  on 
the  children  of  disobedience.'  Ought  not  Naomi,  then,  to  have 
rather  endeavoured  to  pluck  her  beloved  daughters  as  brands 
out  of  the  burning,  by  alluring  them  into  a  land  where  the 
method  of  salvation  was  known,  and  where  the  means  of  grace 
were  enjoyed? 

We  are  not  bound  to  justify  all  that  Naomi  spake  or  did; 
and  we  ought  not  rashly  to  condemn  her,  because  we  know 
only  a  few  of  the  things  that  she  spake  to  her  daughters-iu- 
3 


34  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  III. 

law.  But,  in  charity  to  that  good  woman,  we  ought  to  be- 
lieve, that,  for  years  past,  she  had  been  endeavoring,  by  her 
j)ractice  and  her  converse,  to  recommend  to  her  young  friends 
the  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel.  If  they  were  truly  turned 
from  the  error  of  their  ways,  nothing  that  is  here  said  was 
likely  to  drive  them  back  to  their  own  country.  But  if  they 
were  not,  why  should  they  go  forward  with  her  into  her  coun- 
trv,  where  she  could  not  support  them,  and  where  it  was  possi- 
ble that,  from  the  behaviour  of  Naomi's  countrymen  to  such 
destitute  strangers,  they  would  rather  contract  prejudices  un- 
favorable to  their  religion,  then  cordially  join  in  their  wor- 
ship? They  might  have  been  disgusted  even  with  Naomi's 
own  conduct,  if  she  had  not  fairly  told  them  what  inconveni- 
ences they  were  to  encounter  in  going  to  her  land,  and  to  her 
people.  AVe  ought,  by  all  prudent  methods,  to  gain  proselytes 
to  a  religion  Avhich  we  know  to  be  divine;  but  we  are  to  catch 
none  by  guile.  When  Paul  says,  ^  Being  crafty,  I  caught  you 
with  guile,'  he  spake  not  in  his  own  person,  but  in  the  person 
of  an  objector  to  the  account  he  was  giving  of  his  own  con- 
duct. Far  from  allowing  that  he  caught  them  with  guile,  he 
proves  the  very  reverse  to  have  been  the  case ;  for  he  'renounced 
the  hidden  things  of  dishonesty,  not  Avalking  in  craftiness, 
nor  handling  the  Avord  of  God  deceitfully.' 

Our  Lord  very  plainly  told  his  followers  what  they  were  to 
expect  in  his  service.  To  a  man  who  expressed  his  intention 
of  following  him,  he  said,  'The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds 
of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  his  head.'  We  may  however  observe,  that  Christ  usually 
administered  proper  antidotes  against  the  fears  which  the  doc- 
trine of  the  cross  might  excite  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
When  he  told  them  that  they  must  '  deny  themselves,  and  take 
up  their  cross  and  follow  him,'  he  told  them  likewise,  that 
'  thasc  who  lost  their  lives  for  his  sake  should  find  them.'  It 
may  be  doubted  whether  Naomi,  in  the  dejection  of  her  spirits, 
did  not  overlook  the  powerful  consolations  which  might  have 
encouraged  her  young  friends  to  follow  her  into  the  land  of 
Israel,  and  would  have  more  than  compensated  all  the  incon- 
veniences to  which  they  would  have  been  exposed  in  a  strange 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OP   RUTH.  35 

land.  She  honestly  told  them  that  they  could  not  reasonably 
expect  outward  prosperity  if  they  should  accompany  her.  But 
might  she  not  have  reminded  them  of  those  spiritual  advan- 
tages, which  made  the  condition  of  the  poorest  Israelites  un- 
speakably more  advantageous  than  the  happiest  state  of  those 
heathens  who  knew  not  God  ?  Doubtless  she  had  often  spoken 
of  those  privileges  to  them  in  former  times;  but  as  yet  they 
had  not  learned  their  nature,  and  perhaps  Naomi  now  despaired 
of  ever  being  able  to  give  them  a  perfect  idea  of  it. 

Verse  14. — And  they  lifted  up  their  voice  and  wept  again: 
and  Orpah  kissed  her  mother-in-law;  but  Ruth  clave  unto  her. 

Again  they  lift  up  their  voices  and  weep  when  Naomi  had 
represented  her  own  destitute  condition,  and  the  little  encourage- 
ment she  could  give  them  to  go  with  her  to  her  native  land.  They 
were  also  pierced  with  a  deep  concern  for  the  aflSictions  which 
she  had  suffered,  without  any  prospect  of  seeing  them  redressed 
in  the  manner  they  could  have  wished.  But  there  is  always 
a  mixture  of  pleasure  with  the  tears  which  flow  from  com- 
passion and  charity.  Those  men  are  not  to  be  envied,  but 
pitied,  who  feel  not  for  the  woes  of  their  friends. 

Naomi  had  already  kissed  both  her  daughters-in-law.  Orpah 
now  kisses  Naomi  and  leaves  her.  We  can  scarcely  avoid 
thinking,  when  Ave  read  this  history,  of  the  young  man  whom 
our  Lord  loved,  although  he  woukinot  follow  him.  The  young 
man  was  amiable  for  his  natural  dispositions,  and  for  his  dis- 
creet behaviour;  but,  alas !  he  could  not  think  of  parting  with 
all  that  he  had  for  Christ.  Orpah,  in  like  manner,  would  have 
gladly  accompanied  Naomi  to  her  people,  could  she  have  en- 
joyed with  her  those  accommodations  that  appeared  to  her  ne- 
cessary for  her  earthly  felicity.  She  Ivissed  Naomi  because  she 
dearly  loved  her,  but  she  did  not  love  the  God  of  Naomi  so 
as  to  'forget  her  father's  house,  and  her  own  people,'  to  serve 
Him.  Think  not  that  an  amiable  natural  temper,  or  an  af- 
fectionate behaviour  to  your  parents  and  friends,  are  either 
sufficient  indications  of  true  religion,  or  compensate  for  the 
want  of  it.  The  young  man  whom  Jesus  loved  went  away 
sorrowful  from  Jesus;  but  his  sorrow  at  leaving  him  did  by 
»*>  means  atone  for  the  deaf  ear  which  he  turned  to  his  re- 


36  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  III. 

ligious  instructions.  Nature,  in  its  highest  endowments  and 
improvements,  is  infinitely  below  grace.  There  are  some  be- 
lievers in  Christ,  whose  natural  tempers  are  never  refined  to  such 
a  degree  as  we  might  expect  from  their  religious  principles ; 
yet  they  shall  dwell  for  ever  in  the  region  of  love.  There  are 
other  men,  whose  natural  tempers  are  affectionate  and  humane. 
Perhaps  they  are  improved  by  all  the  advantages  of  a  polite 
and  learned  education.  Thus  they  acquire  an  uncommon  de- 
gree of  respectability  in  the  world,  and  yet  continue  destitute 
of  faith  in  Christ  and  love  to  God.  With  all  their  attain- 
ments, they  are  still  in  a  miserable  condition.  The  love  and 
esteem  of  men  will  not  secure  them  from  the  wrath  of  that  God 
whose  service  they  neglect;  and  whose  Son,  the  only  Saviour, 
they  despise. 

Orpah  kissed  her  mother-in-laiv^  but  Ruth  clave  to  her.  And 
Ruth's  attachment  to  her  was  worth  ten  thousand  of  Orpah's 
kisses.  The  young  nobleman  in  the  gospel  treated  our  Lord 
with  high  respect;  but  all  this  availed  him  nothing,  for  he 
would  not  sell  his  possessions  at  Christ's  command,  and  be- 
come a  follower  of  Jesus.  Happy  were  the  apostles  who  con- 
tinued with  him  in  all  his  temptations.  They  left  all  and 
followed  him.  What  they  left  was  little,  but  that  love  which 
disposed  them  to  leave  all  was  highly  valued  by  him,  and  they 
received  an  hundred  fold  of  recompense  even  in  this  world. 

Verse  15. — And  she  said,  Behold  thy  sister-in-law  is  gone  back 
unto  her  people  and  unto  her  gods:  return  thou  after  thy  sister- 
in-law. 

It  was  doubtless  Naomi's  grief,  that  a  young  woman  whom 
she  loved,  and  who  loved  her  so  dearly,  went  back,  not  only 
to  her  people,  but  to  her  gods.  Naomi,  it  is  probable,  knew 
her  too  well  to  be  mistaken  in  the  suspicion  she  had  formed 
of  her  conduct.  If  her  husband,  when  he  married  her,  had  no 
better  reason  than  Naomi  now  had  to  judge  favorably  of  her 
religious  sentiments,  he  was  greatly  to  be  blamed  for  taking  her 
into  his  bosom.  But  love  may  easily  deceive  a  man  who  is 
clear-sighted  in  ordinary  matters.  Jacob,  in  all  probability, 
did  not  find  it  so  easy  a  matter  as  he  expected,  to  reclaim 
Rachel  from  the  worship  of  her  father's  images. 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OF  BUTH.  37 

She  is  returned  to  her  people  and  to  her  gods.  Naomi  doubted 
not  that  she  was  returning  to  her  gods,  although  she  said 
nothing  of  them  when  she  left  her  mother-in-law.  Perhaps 
she  was  not  even  thinking  of  her  gods ;  but  her  return  to  her 
people  was,  in  effect,  a  return  to  her  gods.  If  she  had  intended 
to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  her  idols,  she  would  have 
fled  from  the  temptations  to  idolatry  which  surrounded  her 
on  every  side  in  the  land  of  her  nativity,  and  amongst  her  kin- 
dred. 

There  are  too  many,  even  of  the  professors  of  the  true  re- 
ligion, who  have  no  other  reason  for  professing  it,  but  the 
public  profession  of  it  amongst  the  people  to  whom  they  be- 
long. Were  they  inhabitants  of  Greece,  they  would  profess- 
either  the  Turkish  or  the  Greek  religion,  for  the  same  reason 
that  induces  them  to  be  Protestants  in  Great  Britain.  Beware 
of  thinking  that  the  best  religion  in  the  world  will  save  you, 
if  you  do  not  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  and  in  the 
love  of  it  not  chiefly  for  your  fathers'  and  brethren's  sake,  but 
for  its  own  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  its  glorious  Author. 

Return  thou  after  thy  sister-in-law.  Example  has  a  mighty 
influence,  the  example  especially  of  dear  friends  with  whom 
we  have  long  lived  in  habits  of  intimacy.  If  Orpah  had  gone 
with  Naomi,  Ruth  and  Orpah  would  have  kept  one  another 
in  countenance.  As  matters  stood,  Ruth  was  likely  to  be 
esteemed  by  all  her  former  friends  the  greatest  fool  in  the 
world.  Did  not  Orpah  leave  her  mother-in-law,  although  she 
loved  her  with  as  warm  affections  as  any  mother-in-law  could 
expect?  But  she  was  not  so  unwise  as  to  leave  all  her  other 
friends  for  a  single  friend  connected  with  her  by  a  relation 
which  was  now  extinguished.  Ruth  loved  her  mother-in-law 
with  an  unreasonable  and  romantic  fondness.  When  Orpah, 
in  her  sight,  had  the  good  sense  to  leave  her,  and  to  return  to 
much  nearer  friends,  Ruth  still  kept  her  foolish  resolution  to 
go  to  a  country  which  she  knew  not,  with  an  old  woman,  who, 
instead  of  being  able  to  support  her,  must  depend  on  the  la- 
bor of  this  poor  young  woman.  Such  might  be  the  reflections 
of  those  who  knew  not  the  springs  of  Ruth's  conduct.  But 
Ruth  had  sense  enough  to  know^  that  neither  the  example  nor 


38  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  III. 

the  opinion  of  other  people,  ought  to  be  the  rule  of  her  own 
conduct.  ^It  is  a  small  thing  for  us  to  be  judged  of  man ;  but 
he  who  judgeth  us  is  the  Lord.' 

Here  again  it  may  be  asked,  Did  not  Naomi  cast  stumbling- 
blocks,  as  well  as  Orpah,  in  the  way  of  Ruth?  Was  it  not  a 
sufficient  temptation  for  this  young  woman 'to  see  Orpah  re- 
turning to  her  gods?  Why  does  Naomi  enforce  the  tempta- 
tion, by  exciting  her  to  follow  the  example?  Does  not  Solomon 
give  a  much  better  advice,  when  with  great  earnestness  he 
exhorts  us  to  ^  keep  out  of  the  path  of  evil  doers,'  Prov.  iv. 
14,  15.? 

Naomi  did  not,  certainly,  wish  that  Ruth  should  return  to 
her  gods;  and  if  she  did  not  wish  that  she  should  return  to 
her  gods,  she  could  not  wish  that  she  should  lay  herself  open 
to  temptations,  such  as  those  to  which  Orpah  was  now  expos- 
ing herself.  Ruth,  therefore,  who  knew  Naomi's  zeal  for  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  would  not  understand  her  words  as  an 
advice  to  follow  Orpah's  example,  but  rather  as  a  trial  of  her 
sincerity,  and  a  modest  reference  of  the  important  point  to  her 
own  choice,  whether  she  would  go  with  Orpah  to  her  friends 
and  her  gods,  or  come  with  Naomi  to  the  land  of  Israel,  and 
worship  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  Lot.  We  ought  to  be 
zealous  for  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  to  do  what  we  can  to 
turn  sinners  from  the  error  of  their  ways ;  but  we  cannot  com- 
pel the  inclination  or  the  judgment  of  our  friends.  Christ 
himself  did  not  seek  any  followers  that  would  not  icillingly 
comply  with  his  injunctions.  ^  If  any  man  is  ivillmg  to  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself.'  He,  who  works  in  men  to 
will  and  to  do,  will  accept  of  no  man's  doings  where  the  will 
is  not  engaged.  Matt.  xvi.  24.  Gr. 

When  Jesus  said  to  a  man  who  would  have  followed  him, 
*The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but 
the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head,'  he  did  not 
intend  to  dissuade  any  man  from  following  him,  but  to  let 
men  know  that  they  ought,  before  they  profess  themselves  his 
followers,  to  consider  what  they  may  expect  in  his  service,  and 
whether  they  are  prepared  to  bear  the  cross  without  repining, 
when  God  calls  them  to  endure  it. 


CHAP.  I.  11-15.  OF   RUTH.  39 

When  he  said  to  Judas,  'AYhat  thou  dost,  do  quickly,'  he 
by  no  means  authorised  Judas  to  execute  his  wicked  design  of 
betraying  his  Master,  but  rather  to  awaken  his  conscience  to 
a  sense  of  the  danger  and  baseness  of  his  intentions,  by  placing 
the  intended  crime  before  his  view,  and  fixing  his  mind  upon 
it  as  a  crime  presently  to  be  committed;  for  those  evils  which 
are  considered  as  present  may  strike  horror,  although  they 
were  far  from  appearing  dreadful  at  a  distance.  So  Naomi, 
in  the  words  before  us,  rather  warns  E-uth  of  the  danger  of 
returning,  than  exhorts  her  to  return:  Return  thou  to  thy  peo- 
ple, and  to  thy  gods.  After  what  Euth  had  learned  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  she  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  returning  to  the 
gods  of  Moab;  and,  therefore,  she  would  rather  expose  her- 
self to  every  possible  inconveniency  and  hardship  in  the  land 
of  Israel,  than  return  to  her  own  people.  Let  blinded  idola- 
ters ^  w^alk  in  the  name  of  their  gods;  we  will  walk  in  the  name 
of  our  God  for  ever  and  ever!'  Never  will  we  be  so  mad,  if 
we  have  any  true  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  as  to  leave 
the  Fountain  of  living  waters,  to  make  to  ourselves  cisterns, 
which  will  prove  but  broken  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water. 
The  folly  of  apostasy  will  not  damp,  but  invigorate  our  zeal, 
for  why  should  we  follow  the  example  of  those  who  ^  begin 
in  the  spirit  and  end  in  the  flesh?' 


40  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IV. 


LECTURE  IV. 


CHAPTER  I.  16 — 18. 

Verse  16. — And  Ruth  said,  Intreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or 
to  return  from  following  after  thee:  for  whither  thou  goest  I  will 
go,  and  where  thou  lodgest  I  will  lodge:  thy  people  shall  be  my 
people  and  thy  God  my  God. 

Ruth  clave  unto  Naomi,  Avheu  Orpah  kissed  and  left  her. 
How  firmly  she  clave  to  Naomi,  we  learn  from  her  own 
words : — 

^Do  not  intreat  me  (or  do  not  press  me)  to  leave  thee,  or  to 
turn  aside  from  following  thee.'  Dearly  as  E-uth  loved  her 
mother-in-law,  and  pleasant  as  her  words  had  usually  been  in 
her  ears,  she  was  greatly  distressed  with  what  Naomi  had 
now  said.  She  could  not  really  intend  to  persuade  her  beloved 
daughter-in-law  to  return  to  the  service  of  Chemosh;  but 
Ruth  could  not  bear  the  slightest  appearance  of  temptation, 
especially  from  the  lips  of  one  who  was  so  dear  to  her ;  nor 
could  she  easily  bear  the  appearance  of  any  suspicion  concerning 
her  steadfastness  in  the  faith  and  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel. 

Ruth  assures  Naomi,  that  it  would  serve  no  purpose  to  re- 
mind her  of  the  inconveniences  which  she  might  expect  to 
encounter.  She  had  already  formed  her  resolution,  and  it 
was  so  firm,  that  no  considerations  could  induce  her  to  alter 
it.  Why,  then,  should  any  more  be  said  on  the  subject?  It 
might  make  her  very  uneasy,  but  her  purpose  could  not  be 
altered. 

Whither  thou  goest  I  will  go,  and  tvhere  thou  lodged  I  icill 
lodge.  Should  Naomi  go  to  the  end  of  the  world,  she  would 
go  with  her.     How  much  more  when  Naomi  was  going  to  the 


CHAP.  I.  16-18.  OF  RUTH.  41 

land  of  Israel,  where  the  God  whom  she  had  chosen  for  her 
God  was  known  and  served.  The  land  of  Israel  was  likely  to 
afford  but  poor  accommodation  for  Naomi,  and  but  poor  pros- 
pects for  a  Moabitish  stranger  who  attended  her:  but  it  was 
the  country  of  her  beloved  friend;  it  was  the  Lord's  land;  it 
was  a  land  where  she  would  be  freed  from  those  mighty 
temptations  to  idolatry  which  were  so  formidable  to  her  in 
her  own  land;  and  where  she  would  enjoy  religious  privileges, 
no  where  else  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  world. 

Where  thou  lodgest  I  will  lodge.  The  company  of  Naomi  in 
a  cottage  would  be  more  pleasant  to  her  than  that  of  any  of 
the  Moabitish  ladies  in  a  palace.  ^Better  is  a  dinner  of  herbs 
where  love  is,  than  a  stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith.'  Better 
is  the  company  of  a  poor  saint  in  a  prison,  than  the  society  of 
the  rich  and  great  in  their  splendid  dwellings,  if  they  take  no 
delight  in  God,  and  in  the  remembrance  of  his  name. 

Thy  people  shall  he  my  people.  At  this  time  Naomi's  people 
must  have  been  a  very  poor  people  after  so  many  years  of 
famine ;  but  they  were  Naomi's  people,  and  they  were  the 
people  of  the  Lord  of  hosts.  If  we  desire  to  serve  God,  his 
people  must  be  our  people.  If  we  love  Christ,  we  must  culti- 
vate fellowship  with  those  whom  he  acknowledges  as  his  faith- 
ful followers.  If  his  name  be  dear  to  us,  we  will  entertain  a 
high  value  for  those  on  whom  this  worthy  name  is  called.  If 
we  acknowledge  him  as  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  we  mu«t  asso- 
ciate ourselves  witli  his  loyal  subjects,  the  objects  of  his  love 
and  care,  the  partakers  with  us  of  his  salvation. 

And  thy  God  my  God.  We  are  not  to  infer  from  these 
words,  that  Ruth  chose  the  god  of  Israel  for  her  God,  merely 
or  chiefly  because  he  was  Naomi's  God.  She  had  not  so  learn- 
ed the  God  of  Israel  from  her  pious  instructress.  If  she  had 
chosen  her  God  merely  from  respect  to  her  earthly  friends, 
why  did  she  leave  the  God  of  her  father  and  mother?  Boaz 
was  better  informed  concerning  the  moving  springs  of  Ruth's 
conduct  than  we  can  pretend  to  be,  and  he  attributed  her  vol- 
untary exile  from  her  own  country  to  a  principle  of  true  piety. 
'A  full  recompense,'  he  says,  ^be  given  thee  of  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  under  whose  wings  thou  art  come  to  trust!' 


42  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IV. 

'Thy  God  shall  6e/  or  'thy  God  is  my  God/     She  know 
that  there  was  no  God  in  all  the  earth  like  the  God  of  Israel, 
the  only  living  and  true  God.     She  was  instructed  by  Naomi, 
and  she  had  probably  been  instructed  likewise  by  her  husband 
Chilion,  that  their  God  did  not  exclude  the  poor  Gentiles  from 
his  covenant.     They  were  indeed  well  qualified  to  teach  her  this 
necessary  and  important  truth,  because  Rahab,  the  Canaan- 
itess,  that  illustrious  proselyte  to  their  religion,  was  married 
into  their  own  family.     If  Rahab  was  received  by  God  into 
the  number  of  his  people,  why  may  not  Ruth  also,  the  Mo- 
abitess,  claim  and  expect  a  share  in  the  blessings  of  his  cove- 
nant?    She  appears  not  to  have  called  in  question  her  right 
to  trust  in  him  as  her  God ;  and  she  devotes  herself  to  him  as 
one  of  his  people,  and  thereby  sets  us  a  good  example  of  faith 
and  obedience.     The  Lord  requires  us,  in  the  first  command- 
ment of  his  holy  law,  to  know  and  acknowledge  him  as  the 
only  true  God,  and  our  God.     If  Ruth,  a  Moabitess,  one  of 
that  nation  who  were  to  be  excluded  for  ten  generations  from 
the  congregation  of  the  Lord,  is  not  afraid  to  subscribe  with 
her  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  to  call  him  her  God,  why  should 
we,  from  a  pretended  humility,  call  in  question  our  right  to 
say  unto  the  Lord,  'Thou  art  our  God?'     Or,  why  should  we 
prefer  any  other  portion,  or  any  other  Lord  to  him?     Ought 
we  not  to  say,  as  Jeremiah  teaches  us,  '  Truly  in  vain  is  sal- 
vation hoped  for  from  the  hills,  and  from  the  multitude  of 
mountains.     Truly  in  the  Lord  our  God  is  the  salvation  of 
Israel.     Behold,  we  come  unto  thee,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  our 
God !'     Or,  as  we  axe  taught  by  Israel,  '  O  Lord  our  God,  other 
lords  besides  Thee  have  had  the  dominion  over  us ;  but  hence- 
forth by  Thee  only  will  we  make  mention  of  thy  name !'    Isaiah 
xxvi.  13. 

Verse  17. —  Where  thou  diest  vnll  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be 
buried.  The  Lord  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  ought  but 
death  part  thee  and  me. 

Ruth  was  still  but  a  young  woman,  and  yet  she  thought  of 
the  day  of  her  death;  and  the  thoughts  of  that  day  perhaps 
contributed  to  fix  her  resolution  of  cleaving  to  Naomi.  It  is 
best  to  live  with  those  whose  death  we  wish  to  die. 


CHAP.  I.  16-18.  OP  RUTH.  43 

Ruth  supposed  it  likely  that  Naomi  would  die  before  her. 
This  consideration  was  unpleasant  to  one  who  was  forsaking 
all  other  friends  to  go  with  her.  If  she  had  lost  one  or  several 
friends  in  the  land  of  Moab,  other  friends  would  have  been 
left;  but  if  she  went  with  Naomi  to  the  land  of  Israel,  she 
knew  of  no  other  friends.  The  death  of  Naomi,  who  was  as 
mortal  as  her  husband  and  her  sons,  might  soon  leave  Ruth 
a  friendless  stranger.  She  is  willing,  however,  to  take  the 
risk.  If  Naomi  should  die,  she  had  no  intention  of  returning 
to  the  country  from  whence  she  set  out.  When  Naomi's  friends 
died  in  the  land  of  Moab,  she  returned  to  the  land  of  Israel ; 
but  when  Naomi  dies,  Ruth  will  not  return  to  the  land  of 
Moab.  The  land  of  Israel  is  henceforth  to  be  her  country. 
She  will  not  return  to  those  friends  that  will  exert  all  their 
influence  to  bring  her  back  to  her  ancient  gods.  She  will 
continue  till  she  dies  in  the  land  of  Israel,  however  friendless 
and  unprotected,  and  will  have  her  grave  in  the  same  place 
with  Naomi,  with  whom  she  hopes  to  live  in  a  better  world. 

God  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  ought  but  death  part  thee 
and  me.  What  might  happen  before  death  she  could  not  say. 
Her  prospects  were  but  dark,  and  yet  she  is  fully  determined 
to  abide  with  Naomi.  Neither  poverty,  nor  the  contempt  usu- 
ally thrown  upon  strangers,  nor  any  of  the  wrongs  to  which 
an  unprotected  woman  in  a  strange  land  might  be  exposed, 
would  induce  her  to  separate  from  such  a  beloved  friend,  or 
to  leave  the  country  where  the  only  true  God  was  served. 

God  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  ^  God  inflict  upon  me  pun- 
ishments too  awful  to  be  named,  and  punishments  still  more 
dreadful  than  any  that  thou  canst  suppose,  if  ought  but  death 
part  betwixt  thee  and  me.'  Ruth  solemnly  swears  that  she 
will  still  cleave  to  Naomi,  and  to  the  God  whom  Naomi  served. 
Thus  David  bound  his  soul  by  an  oath  to  keep  all  God's  right- 
eous judgments.  Thus  we  all  ought  to  lay  ourselves  under 
the  most  sacred  engagements  to  cleave  to  the  Lord  as  our  God, 
and  to  walk  in  his  ways.  Can  we  be  too  firmly  engaged  to 
the  service  of  Him,  whom  to  serve  is  liberty  and  happiness? 

When  we  consider  how  firmly  Ruth  had  resolved  to  cleave 
to  Naomi,  and  to  the  God  of  Israel,  ought  we  not  to  consider, 
whether  we,  who  enjoy  so  vastly  superior  advantages  to  Ruth, 


44  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  IV. 

are  determined  with  equal  firmness  to  continue  in  the  faith,  in 
the  profession  and  in  the  practice,  of  our  religion?  Ruth  was 
instructed  only  by  one,  or  a  very  few  private  Israelites,  in  the 
knowledge  of  religion.  She  never  had  enjoyed  an  opportunity 
of  attending  upon  any  of  the  public  ministrations  of  the  priests 
or  Levites.  If  she  had  ever  seen  the  Bible,  and  learned  to 
read  it,  that  Bible  consisted  only  of  seven  at  most  of  the  many 
books  of  Scripture  which  are  put  into  our  hands ;  yet  she  sac- 
rifices all  the  pleasures — all  the  friendships — of  her  youth,  all 
the  hopes  of  better  days  in  her  own  country,  to  that  holy  re- 
ligion which  she  professed.  What  may  be  expected  of  us  who 
have  so  long  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  the  church-administrations 
which  Christ  hath  appointed  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and 
the  establishment  of  saints ;  and  who,  from  children,  have  been 
accustomed  to  read  the  Scriptures?  We  are  under  no  necessity 
of  leaving  our  native  country  and  our  friends,  to  enjoy  the 
institutions  of  the  gospel,  or  the  fullest  liberty  of  worshiping 
God  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  his  own  direction.  If  w^e  are 
unsettled  in  our  religious  principles  and  practice,  we  cannot 
make  the  excuses  that  many  might  have  made,  who  neverthe- 
less were  far  from  taking  advantage  of  them  to  excuse  a  con- 
duct that  would  admit  of  no  excuse;  for  what  excuse  can  be 
made  for  postponing  the  care  of  our  souls  to  any  thing  in  this 
world?  If  ten  thousand  deaths,  or  if  circumstances  of  misery 
worse  than  any  kind  of  death,  were  to  be  suffered  by  us  for 
our  religion,  would  it  consist  with  true  wisdom  to  purchase  an 
exemption  from  such  temporary  sufferings  at  the  price  of  ever- 
lasting destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord?  Yet  still 
more  inexcusable  are  we,  if,  without  the  temptations  of  any 
extraordinary  inconveniences  in  this  world,  we  prove  unfaith- 
ful to  our  religious  profession. 

That  we  may  cleave  with  purpose  of  heart  to  the  Lord,  it 
is  necessary  that  our  hearts  be  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God ; 
for  never  will  we  be  true  followers  of  them  who  left  all  and 
followed  Christ,  unless  we  are  delivered  from  the  remaining 
power  of  that  attachment  to  the  things  of  the  present  world, 
which  renders  so  many  professors  of  religion  unstable  in  all 
their  ways.  If  God  put  liis  fear  into  our  hearts,  we  will  not 
depart  from  him,  Jefemiah  xxxii.  40.     If  we  are  left  to  the 


CHAP.  I.  16-18.  OF  RUTH.  45 

natural  impulse  of  our  own  hearts,  however  amiable  our  na- 
tural dispositions  may  be,  we  will  follow  the  example,  not  of 
Euth,  but-of  Orpah,  who  kissed  and  left  Naomi,  Heb.  xiii.  9. 

Perhaps  some  may  allege  that  Ruth,  with  all  her  firmness 
to  her  religious  principles,  forgot  a  part  of  that  duty  which  the 
light  of  nature  taught  her.  Why  did  she  not  show  some 
attachment  to  her  own  mother,  as  well  as  to  her  mother-in- 
law?  Why  did  she  leave  her  parents  with  an  intention  never 
to  return,  that  she  might  go  to  a  land  which  she  knew  not? 
The  answer  is  easy.  She  saw  that  she  could  not  return  to 
her  mother  without  exposing  herself  to  very  dangerous  tempta- 
tions. She  could  not,  perhaps,  have  lived  in  her  mother's 
house,  without  seeing  daily  homage  paid  to  false  gods,  and 
meeting  with  daily  solicitations,  and  more  than  solicitations, 
to  join  in  the  practice  of  abominable  idolatries.  She  might 
soon  have  been  given  in  marriage  to  a  worshiper  of  Chemosh ; 
and  it  may  easily  be  judged  how  little  such  a  convert  as  Ruth 
was  prepared  to  encounter  the  temptations  to  which  she  might 
have  been  exposed  in  the  house  either  of  a  mother  or  a  hus- 
band. She  therefore  ^forgot  her  mother's  house  and  her  own 
people.'  With  a  disinterested  spirit,  she  embraced  and  held 
fast  that  religion  which  she  had  been  taught,  not  only  by  her 
mother-in-law,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Unless  she  had 
been  drawn  by  that  divine  power,  which  alone  can  change  the 
hearts  of  men,  she  would  not  have  come  to  the  Lord's  land, 
and  to  God  himself  as  her  exceeding  joy.  We  are  not  called, 
in  the  literal  sense  of  the  words,  to  ^forsake  our  father's  house 
and  our  own  people;'  yet  in  the  spiritual  sense  it  is  absolutely. 
necessary.  We  must  be  ready  to  part  with  every  thing  for 
Christ,  if  we  desire  to  be  Christ's  disciples ;  for  if  any  man 
come  to  him,  ^and  hate  not  father,  and  mother,  and  brothers, 
and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  one  of  his 
disciples.' 

Whilst  we  consider  the  steadfastness  of  Ruth's  relio-ious 
principles,  we  cannot  refrain  from  admiring  likewise  her  fer- 
vent love  to  Naomi,  and  contemplating  the  happiness  which 
both  of  them  enjoyed  in  their  mutual  friendship.  If  earthly 
felicity  seems  a  proper  subject  of  envy,  who  would  not  envy 
this  happy  pair  of  friends,  rather  than  Haman  in  all  his  gran- 


46  THJS   HISTORY  LECT.  IV. 

deur,  or  Solomon  in  all  his  glory?  And  yet  who  were  ever 
poorer  than  Naomi  and  Ruth? 

Live  in  love  and  peace  with  all  men  if  you  can,  especially 
with  all  Christians,  and  with  none  more  than  with  those  of 
your  own  house.  But  if  you  desire  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  such 
domestic  friendship,  imitate  the  piety,  the  modesty,  the  gentle- 
ness, the  patience,  the  meekness  of  these  good  women.  Be 
careful  especially  of  your  tempers  in  the  time  of  affliction. 
There  are  some  who  seem  at  times  to  overflow  with  good- will 
and  kindness  to  their  friends,  but  at  other  times,  especially 
times  of  affliction,  they  are  such  sons  or  daughters  of  Belial, 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  live  in  friendship  with  them. 
Such  was  not  JSTaomi.  She  was  always  disposed  to  take  the 
heaviest  share  of  her  family  afflictions,  and  to  make  them  as 
light  to  her  friends  as  possible.  When  her  heart  was  wrung 
bv  sorrowful  reflections,  she  spake  kindly  to  them,  and  showed 
a  warm  regard  to  their  interest.  The  law  of  kindness  was 
ever  on  her  tongue;  and  the  complaints  that  were  extorted 
from  her  were  not  of  that  sullen  kind  which  provoke  indigna- 
tion, but  expressive  of  that  resignation,  and  that  tenderness 
of  heart,  which  excite  compassion  mingled  with  esteem. 

Verse  18. —  When  she  saw  that  she  was  steadfastly  minded  to 
go  with  her,  then  she  left  speaking  unto  her. 

The  words  of  Ruth  evidently  proceeded  from  her  heart,  and 
produced  full  conviction  in  the  mind  of  Naomi,  that  her  be- 
loved daughter-in-law  would  trouble  her  with  no  sullen  reflec- 
tions on  her  change  of  condition,  whatever  new  hardships 
might  befal  her  in  the  land  of  Israel.  Naomi,  therefore,  was 
fully  satisfied,  and  added  not  a  word  more  on  the  subject.  She 
saw  that  it  would  give  pain,  and  do  no  good ;  and  why  should 
any  man  speak  a  word  that  gives  pain  to  his  neighbor,  unless 
that  pain  has  some  advantage  attending  it,  or  likely  to  attend 
it?  Words  should  be  like  food  or  medicine.  Words  of  re- 
proof or  alarm  may  sometimes  be  no  less  useful  than  those 
drugs  which  are  unpalatable  but  salutary.  But  should  a  wise 
man  use  any  kind  of  language,  especially  disagreeable  lan- 
guage, that  can  do  no  good? 

When  Ruth  had  given  Naomi  as  good  proof  as  she  could 


CHAP.  I.  16-18.  OF    RUTH.  47 

give  her  of  her  settled  determination  to  cleave  to  the  God  of 
Israel,  Naomi  is  fully  satisfied,  and  gives  her  no  further  trouble. 
Thus  ought  we  to  rest  satisfied  with  those  credible  professions 
of  faith  in  Christ,  and  steadfast  adherence  to  his  truths  and 
ways,  which  are  required  from  those  who  are  admitted  to  the 
communion  of  the  church.  Such  professions  are  necessary  to 
establish  that  confidence  which  church-members  ought  to  have 
in  one  another ;  and  when  they  are  made,  we  are  deficient  in 
that  charity  Svhich  believeth  all  things,'  if  we  give  place  to 
groundless  surmises  concerning  their  sincerity.  They  may  in 
the  end  prove  insincere,  for  aught  we  can  tell;  but  to  form 
suspicions  of  them  till  good  ground  is  given  for  them,  discov- 
ers, not  a  godly  jealousy  over  our  brethren,  but  a  proud  cen- 
sorious spirit  which  the  laws  of  Christ  condemn. 

By  her  noble  profession  of  stedfast  adherence  to  the  religion 
of  Naomi,  Kuth  gained  this  advantage,  that  nothing  more  was 
said  to  her  about  returning  to  the  gods  of  Moab.     If  we  desire 
peace  and  quietness  in  the  ways  of  God,  let  us  openly  avow 
our  purpose  of  heart  to  cleave  to  the  Lord,  and  make  it  evident 
in  the  course  of  our  profession  and  practice  that  we  are  sin- 
cere, and  resolved  to  be  stedfast.     When  the  friends  of  Christ 
see  evident  signs  of  our  attachment  to  the  good  cause  in  which 
we  are  engaged,  they   will  treat  us  with  confidence,  and  be 
ready  to  strengthen  our  hands  by  the  various  offices  of  Chris- 
tian communion.     When  his  enemies  see  our  Father's  name 
written  on  our  foreheads,  they  will  desist  from  those  solicita- 
tions to  turn  from  our  profession  which  they  see  to  be  fruitless. 
'If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  us,  let  us  live  peaceably 
with  all  men ;'  but  let  us  not  seek  peace  with  the  ungodly, 
by  dissembling  our  attachment  to  those  truths  which  they 
disbelieve,  or  those  duties  which  they  despise.     If  they  will 
not  live  peaceably  with  us  unless  we  become  their  servants, 
and  forfeit  the  character  of  faithful  servants  to  Christ,  their 
enmity  will  be  better  than  a  friendship  bought  at  an  expense 
so  unwarrantable.     But  for  the  most  part,  wicked  men  them- 
selves despise  an  unstable  Christian,  and  cannot  divest  them- 
selves of  an  inward  reverence  for  the  man  whose  professions 
and  practice  are  uniform  and  self-consistent. 


48  THE  HISTOEY  LECT.  V. 


LECTURE  V. 


EUTH'S  AEEIVAL  with  NAOMI  AT  BETHLEHEM. 
CHAPTER  I.  19-22. 

Verse  19. — So  they  two  went,  until  they  came  to  Bethlehem, 
And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  were  come  to  Bethlehem,  that  all 
the  city  was  moved  about  them;  and  they  said,  Is  this  Naomi  f 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  making,  and  the 
accomplishing,  of  a  good  resolution.  There  are  some  who  re- 
solve well,  but  they  defer  the  accomplishment  of  what  they 
have  resolved  till  a  more  convenient  season,  which  never  comes; 
or  they  begin  well,  but  they  stop  short  i-*  fcheir  course.  Ruth 
not  only  resolved  to  go  to  the  land  of  Israel  with  Naomi,  and 
there  to  continue  for  life,  but  goes  along  with  her  till  she 
comes  to  Bethlehem,  and  there  dwells  without  ever  wishing 
to  return.  She  did  not  so  much  as  ask  leave  from  [N^aomi,  be- 
fore they  left  the  country  of  Moab,  to  go  back  to  bid  farewell 
to  her  father  and  mother.  Doubtless  a  woman  so  pious  and 
affectionate  as  Ruth,  must  have  loved  and  honored  her  parents, 
and  have  thought  with  regret  of  leaving  them  for  ever;  but 
had  she  returned  to  take  leave  of  them,  they  might  have  per- 
suaded or  forced  her  to  continue  at  home ;  and  to  continue  at 
home' appeared  to  her  too  hazardous  to  her  soul.  She  there- 
fore went  along  with  Naomi,  travelling  no  doubt  on  foot,  and 
meeting  with  but  indifferent  accommodation  on  the  road.  At 
last,  however,  they  come  to  the  ancient  habitation  of  Naomi 
in  safety;  for  the  Lord,  by  his  good  providence,  guarded  them 
amidst  the  dangers  of  their  journey,  and  brought  them  to  their 
city  of  habitation. 

The  appearance  of  Naomi  with  Ruth  the  Moabitess,  excited 


CHAP.  I.  19-22.  OF   RUTH.  49 

much  surprise  at  Bethlehem.  It  is  probable  the  inhabitants 
of  that  city  never  expected  to  see  her  more.  She  had  been  ten 
years  absent,  and  they  knew  not  that  she  was  still  alive.  She 
was  now  to  her  former  acquaintances  almost  like  one  who  had 
returned  to  them  from  the  land  of  for^etfulness. 

o 

The  great  alteration  in  her  condition  would  likewise  excite 
tlieir  surprise.  She  went  out  with  her  husband  and  two  sons, 
and  returned  only  with  a  stranger,  whom  none  would  expect  to 
see,  a  young  woman  of  the  land  of  Moab.  Many  alterations 
take  place  in  families  within  the  space  of  a  few  years,  but  these 
alterations  are  the  less  observed  that  they  are  made  by  slow 
degrees.  First  one  dies,  and  then,  when  he  is  forgotten,  a 
second,  and  a  third.  This  is  the  common  course  of  things; 
but  if  two  or  three  should  die  out  of  a  family  at  the  same  time, 
all  the  neighborhood  would  be  struck  with  astonishment;  all 
the  friends  of  the  survivors  would  be  filled  with  compassion. 
Such  did  the  case  of  Naomi  appear  to  her  acquaintances,  who 
now,  for  the  first  time,  seem  to  have  been  informed  of  the 
change  in  her  condition. 

If  you  consider  what  changes  have  befallen  many  of  your 
neighbors  within  the  last  ten  years,  you  will  be  struck  with 
a  sense  of  the  mutability  of  all  human  things.  Many  have 
within  the  compass  of  that  time  lost  their  father,  their  mother, 
some  of  their  children,  their  friends  whom  they  most  loved  of 
any  thing  upon  earth.  If  you  have  lost  such  friends,  God  has 
been  loudly  calling  you  to  ^set  your  affections  on  things  above, 
not  on  things  on  the  earth.'  If  you  have  not,  remember  that 
your  earthly  comforts  are  as  uncertain  as  those  of  your  neigh- 
bors. The  next  ten  years  may  leave  you  as  desolate  as  the 
last  ten  years  have  left  any  of  your  friends.  Your  husbands, 
your  wives,  your  children,  are  as  liable  to  the  stroke  of  death 
as  theirs.  Whilst  you  pity  them,  learn  to  provide  consola- 
tion for  yourselves  for  the  time  when  you  will  need  it  as  much 
as  they.  Naomi  now  appeared  in  a  very  different  condition 
from  that  in  which  her  neighbors  had  formerly  known  her. 
But  those  who  knew  her  piety  would  not  think  her  miserable. 
She  had  lost  her  husband,  but  not  her  God.  She  might  have 
still  said,  'Although  my  husband  is  dead,  and  my  children 
4 


50  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  V. 

are  dead,  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.  The  Lord  liveth, 
blessed  be  my  rock !  and  the  God  of  my  salvation  be  mag- 
nified !^  Naomi,  however,  at  meeting  with  her  old  acquaint- 
ances, had  her  soul  harrowed  afresh  by  the  recollection  of  her 
former  enjoyments,  which  were  now  lost  to  her  for  ever. 

Verse  20. — And  she  said  unto  them,  Call  me  not  Naomi,  call 
me  Mara ;  jor  the  Almighty  hath  dealt  very  bitterly  with  me, 

Naomi  now  saw  many  of  the  former  acquaintances  of  her 
liusband  and  her  sons.  These  acquaintances  would  expect  to 
hear  of  all  that  had  befallen  them  in  the  land  of  Moab,  and 
would  speak  of  many  things  that  tended  to  revive  the  remem- 
brance in  Naomi's  mind  of  the  pleasant  days  she  had  passed 
in  their  society.  Her  heart  bled  at  the  recollection.  No 
wonder  that  her  words,  on  this  occasion,  express  a  bitterness 
of  heart  that  attracts  our  pity;  but  it  is  the  bitterness  of  grief, 
not  of  impatience.  She  is  very  deeply  humbled  under  the 
mighty  hand  of  God,  but  does  not  fret  at  the  dispensations  of 
his  providence. 

Call  me  not  Naomi,  but  call  me  Ifara.  Naomi  signifies 
pleasant,  Mara  signifies  bitter.  Naomi's  name,  when  it  was 
mentioned  by  her  friends,  added  to  her  grief,  because  it  brought 
to  her  mind  all  the  pleasant  things  which  she  had  enjoyed  in 
the  time  of  her  prosperity.  It  is  very  probable  that,  in  for- 
mer days,  either  she  herself,  or  some  of  her  friends,  might 
observe  how  well  her  circumstances  suited  her  name.  As  she 
was  a  woman  of  a  pleasant  disposition,  she  gained  the  love  of 
her  liusband,  her  sons,  her  neighbors ;  and  life  is  pleasant  to 
those  who  enjoy  the  friendship  of  all  around  them,  especially 
as  they  are  disposed  to  make  themselves  happy,  when  happi- 
ness is  in  their  power.  But  the  recollection  of  the  delightful 
days  she  had  spent  in  the  bosom  of  her  family  and  in  the  visits 
of  her  friends,  was  more  grievous  to  her.  Her  earthly  happi- 
ness was  fled  and  gone.  She  could  not  now  be  happy  in  a 
town,  which  was  emptied  of  those  things  that  made  it  formerly 
delightful.  She  could  not  communicate  that  pleasure  to  her 
acquaintance  which  she  once  did.  She  could  not  now  wear 
that  cheerful  air  which  once  beautified  her  countenance.  She 
could  not  mingle  in  cheerful  converse.     She  had  it  not  in  lier 


CHAP.  T.  19-22.  OF  RUTH.  51 

power  to  endear  herself  by  acts  or  by  words  of  kindness,  as  in 
former  days.  She  might  very  probably  think,  in  this  burst 
of  grief  which  broke  forth  at  the  sight  of  her  old  acquaintances, 
that  her  very  name  would  be  a  source  of  perpetual  affliction, 
and  that  she  would  not  be  able  to  hear  it  pronounced  without 
a  constant  renovation  of  what  she  now  felt.  ^  The  heart  know- 
eth  its  own  bitterness;^  and  there  are  little  circumstances  un- 
known and  unfelt  by  others,  that  exasperate  the  sorrows  of  the 
afflicted  in  a  very  great  degree. 

Call  me  not  Naomi,  but  call  me  Mara.  "VVe  excuse  these 
words  from  the  time  when  they  were  spoken.  They  were 
dictated  by  passion  rather  than  by  judgment;  not  indeed  by 
the  passions  of  anger  and  discontentment,  but  by  the  passion 
of  grief,  and  of  grief  excited  by  the  best  and  loveliest  affec- 
tions. She  thought  it  impossible  that  her  days  should  ever 
again  be  pleasant,  because  Elimelech,  and  Mahlon,  and  Chilion, 
were  no  more  to  be  her  companions.  But  we  ought  not  so  to 
lament  the  comforts  we  have  lost,  as  to  think  that  all  our  fu- 
ture days  must  be  spent  in  bitterness.  Has  God  taken  away 
from  us  every  thing  that  can  render  life  comfortable?  Has 
he  written  such  bitter  things  against  us,  that  our  eye  can  never 
more  see  good?  Let  us  mourn  for  our  departed  friends.  'By 
the  sorrow  of  the  countenance,  the  heart  is  made  better.'  Yet, 
when  they  are  taken  away  from  us,  let  us  not  say,  '  Our  gods 
are  taken  away,  what  have  we  more?'  God  can  give  us  joy 
for  mourning.  He  can  even  turn  our  mourning,  and  the  cause 
of  our  mourning,  into  causes  of  the  most  heart-felt  joy.  'Mine 
eye  shall  no  more  see  good,'  said  Job  in  the  day  of  his  griefs ; 
but  he  was  happily  disappointed,  for  he  saw  more  good  after 
his  afflictions,  than  he  had  ever  seen  before  them. 

Whatever  evils  befal  us  in  life,  let  us  not  forget  from  whence 
they  come.  'Out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High  proceedeth 
not  evil  and  good.'  It  is  He  that  'killeth  and  maketh  alive, 
that  bringeth  down  to  the  grave  and  bringeth  up.'  Of  this 
Naomi  was  sensible.  'Call  me  Mara,  for  the  Almighty  hath 
dealt  very  bitterly  with  me.'  Had  her  husband  and  her  chil- 
dren died  by  the  hand  of  violence  in  a  strange  land,  she  would 
have  seen  the  agency  of  divine  Providence  in  the  injuries  of 


52  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  V. 

wicked  men.  But,  as  matters  stood,  she  had  none  to  blame 
for  the  calamities  that  came  upon  her,  unless  she  thought,  as 
she  was  likely  to  do,  that  she  had  brought  her  calamities  upon 
herself  by  sin.  There  was  no  hand  of  man  laid  upon  her  be- 
loved friends.  Their  death  was  caused  by  the  visitation  of  the 
Almighty,  who  can  do  no  injury  to  any  of  his  creatures. 

The  Almighty  hath  dealt  bitterly  with  me.  If  all  our  afflictions 
come  from  the  Almighty,  it  is  in  vain,  as  well  as  impious,  to 
contend  with  him  that  smites  us.  Shall  the  potsherds  of  the 
earth  strive  with  their  Maker,  who  has  all  power  to  do  with 
them  as  he  pleases?  He  cannot  be  effectually  opposed,  and 
He  can  do  nothing  that  is  wrong.  Weak  mortals  may  injure 
their  fellow-creatures  for  their  own  advantage;  but  what  pro- 
fit can  it  be  to  the  Almighty,  that  he  should  oppress  the  work 
of  his  own  hands?  ^Yea,  surely,  God  will  not  do  wickedly; 
neither  will  the  Almighty  pervert  judgment.  Who  hath  given 
him  a  charge  over  the  earth,  or  who  hath  disposed  the  whole 
world?  If  he  set  his  heart  upon  man  ;  if  he  gather  unto  him- 
self his  spirit  and  his  breath,  all  flesh  shall  perish  together, 
and  shall  turn  unto  dust.^  And  what  can  we  say  if  the  Al- 
mighty should  thus  display  his  sovereign  power?  ^Is  it  fit  to 
say  to  a  king.  Thou  art  wicked ;  and  to  princes.  Ye  are  un- 
godly ?  how  much  less  to  Him  that  accepteth  not  the  persons 
of  princes,  and  regardeth  not  the  rich  more  than  the  poor;  for 
they  all  are  the  work  of  his  hands?' 

This  name,  which  we  render  Almighty,  is  by  many  under- 
stood to  signify,  the  all-suf&ciency  of  God.  He  is  able  to  do 
what  he  pleases,  and  there  is  an  abundant  and  overflowing 
fullness  with  him  to  supply  all  our  wants,  and  to  satisfy  all 
our  desires ;  and  therefore,  when,  by  the  strokes  of  his  hand, 
we  are  deprived  of  the  sweetest  of  our  created  enjoyments,  it 
will  be  our  wisdom,  instead  of  fretting  at  our  losses,  to  seek 
a  compensation  for  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  himself.  Out 
of  his  riches  in  glory,  by  Christ  Jesus,  he  can  supply  all  our 
wants.  In  the  enjoyment  of  his  favor,  which  is  better  than 
life,  we  may  find  abundant  satisfaction  when  all  things  look 
black  and  dark  around  us.     Have  we  lost  father,   mother. 


CHAP.  I.  19-22.  OF  EUTH.  gg 

children,  friends?  He  is  a  thousand  times  better  than  they 
all,  to  those  who  choose  him  for  their  portion;  Hab.  iii.  17,  18. 
TJiQ  Almighty  hath  dealt  very  bitterly  with  me.  It  is  natural  for 
mourners  to  aggravate  their  own  afflictions,  and  to  call  on  all 
their  neighbors  to  ^behold  and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like 
unto  their  sorrow  which  is  done  unto  them,  wherewith  the  Lord 
hath  afflicted  them  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger/  .  Naomi  had 
better  reason  than  most  persons,  to  think  that  the  Almighty 
had  dealt  very  bitterly  with  her,  when  she  had  not  a  single 
child  spared  to  her  in  the  fall  of  her  family;  yet  Job  was  Af- 
flicted with  heavier  strokes,  and  after  all  could  praise  the  Lord, 
saying,  ^The  Lord  hath  given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ,• 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord!  Shall  we  receive  good  at 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  alsof 

It  is  undoubtedly  our  duty  to  consider  the  divine  dispen- 
sations towards  us  with  attention,  and  to  feel  the  scourge  with 
which  God  is  pleased  to  wound  us.  He  will  not  lay  upon  man 
more  than  is  meet;  and  therefore  it  is  unsafe  to  be  regardless 
of  any  of  those  heavy  circumstances,  by  which  he  is  pleased  to 
embitter  our  earthly  condition.  If  they  are  all  designed  for 
the  accomplishment  of  some  purpose  concerning  us,  we  must 
endeavor  to  answer  God's  designs,  that  we  may  not  bring  upon 
ourselves  heavier  calamities  than  we  have  yet  felt.  We  may, 
however,  err,  by  thinking  our  calamities  heavier,  when  they 
are  compared  with  other  men's  calamities,  than  they  really  are. 
Into  this  mistake,  persons  of  a  sorrowful  spirit  are  ready  to 
fall,  to  the  no  little  damage  of  their  souls.  They  may  be  full 
of  complaint,  when  they  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  their 
situation  is  not  worse.  They  may  deny  themselves  that  com- 
fort which  God  is  pleased  to  allow  them,  and  disable  themselves 
from  giving  glory  to  God  in  the  fires,  by  that  cheerful  patience 
which  is  at  all  times  our  duty. 

Do  you  ^sk  how  you  may  keep  clear  of  both  extremes? 
That  you  may  be  preserved  from  the  unhappy  effects  which 
may  result  from  too  slight  thoughts  of  divine  correction,  con- 
sider how  loudly  God  calls  you,  by  various  circumstances  of 
affliction,  to  consider  your  ways.  How  inexcusable  must  you 
be,  after  all  God's  dealings  with  you,  if  you  are  found  indulg- 


54  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  V. 

ing  any  of  those  corrupt  affections  which  you  are  called  to 
mortify,  or  neglecting  any  of  those  duties  to  which  your  chas- 
tisements ought  to  rouse  you !  Jeremiah,  in  the  book  of  the 
Lamentations,  teaches  the  church  deeply  to  deplore  her  mis- 
eries; but  to  what  end?  Not  to  inspire  her  with  despondency, 
for  he  teacheth  her  to  say,  ^  The  Lord  will  not  cast  off  for  ever; 
but  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he  have  compassion  according 
to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies.'  The  true  reason  why  the 
prophet  wished  his  people  to  feel  their  calamities  was,  that 
they  might  be  thoroughly  awakened  to  comply  with  his  ex- 
hortations: ^Let  us  search  and  try  our  ways,  and  let  us  turn 
again  to  the  Lord.  Let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  with  our  hands 
to  God  in  the  heavens.' 

To  prevent  the  bad  effects  that  might  result  from  too  deep 
sensibility  to  our  distresses,  as  if  they  exceeded  the  bounds 
which  God  is  ordinarily  pleased  to  set  to  his  severities  in  deal- 
ing with  his  own  people,  it  will  be  proper  for  us  to  consider 
the  good  as  well  as  the  evil  things  in  our  condition;  fairly  to 
compare  our  grounds  of  complaint  with  those  of  others  of 
God's  people,  either  in  our  own  times  or  in  past  times;  and  to 
remember  that  the  ^end  of  a  thing  is  better  than  the  beginning 
thereof.'  Nor  ought  we  ever  to  forget,  that,  whatever  grounds 
we  have  for  humiliation  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  for 
confession  of  sins,  for  fasting,  or  speedy  reformation  of  every 
thing  amiss  in  our  tempers  and  conduct,  these  do  not  affect  the 
grounds  of  our  faith  in  God  through  Christ  Jesus,  nor  super- 
sede the  duty  of  glorifying  the  Lord  in  the  evil  day,  by  the 
l)atient  enduring  of  his  will,  and  by  expressing  our  faith  and 
joy  in  the  Lord.  David,  in  the  days  of  his  troubles,  though 
conscious  that  he  had  provoked  the  divine  displeasure  against 
himself,  did  not  despair  of  seeing  the  face  of  God  again  with 
joy.  *  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou 
disquieted  within  me?  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise 
him.' 

Verse  21. — /  went  out  fidl,  and  the  Lord  hath  brought  me 
home  again  empty.  Why  then  call  ye  me  Naomi,  seeing  the  Lord 
hath  testified  against  me,  and  the  Almighty  hath  ajfiided  mef 

^The  Lord  giveth,  and  the  Lord  taketh  away.'     When  he 


CHAP.  I.  19-22.  OF  RUTH.  55 

gives,  he  is  under  no  necessity  of  securing  to  us  the  possession 
of  what  he  gives.  We  may  soon  provoke  him,  by  our  sins,  to 
bereave  us  of  all  that  he  hath  given  us;  but  however  careful 
we  may  be  to  please  him,  we  cannot  merit  the  continuance  of 
his  favours,  and,  without  any  special  provocation  on  our  part, 
he  may  have  good  reasons  for  impoverishing  us,  and  placing 
us  in  conditions  quite  the  reverse  of  those  to  which  we  have 
been  accustomed.  Millions  have  found  reason  to  say  in  the 
course  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  that  once  they  were  full, 
but  the  Lord  hath  emptied  them.  And  one  great  reason  why 
God  so  frequently  changes  men's  prosperous  condition  into 
misery  is,  to  teach  us  the  folly  of  trusting  to  our  present  en- 
joyments. ^But  this  I  say,  brethren,  the  time  is  short.  It 
remaineth  that  both  they  that  have  wives  be  as  though  they 
had  none,  and  they  that  weep  as  though  they  wept  not,  and 
they  that  rejoice  as  though  they  rejoiced  not,  and  they  that 
buy  as  though  they  possessed  not,  and  they  that  use  this  world 
as  not  abusing  it;  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away.^ 

That  Naomi  was  once  full  and  was  now  empty,  we  can  easily 
beMeve.  But  what  does  she  mean  by  saying,  I  went  out  fuU^ 
but  the  Lord  hath  brought  me  again  empty  ^  Was  she  not  so 
empty  when  she  went  out,  that  she  was  forced  to  leave  her 
native  land  for  bread?  And  had  she  not  now  at  her  return 
the  prospect  of  finding  bread  in  her  own  land  ?  Why  then 
does  she  make  herself  so  much  richer  at  her  departure  than  at 
her  return? 

It  is  natural  for  men  under  depression  of  spirit  to  make  un- 
fair and  invidious  comparisons,  both  of  their  own  condition 
with  that  of  others,  and  of  their  own  former,  with  their  present 
condition.  When  we  look  back  on  the  past  period  of  our  life, 
if  it  has  been  on  the  whole  prosperous,  we  forget  those  little 
vexations  and  disgusts  that  mingled  themselves  with  our  en- 
joyments, and  fondly  fix  our  review  on  the  pleasant  things 
that  sweetened  our  former  days.  But  when  we  consider  our 
present  condition,  if  we  have  been  ajfflicted  by  the  hand  of  God, 
and  felt  his  chastisements,  we  are  ready  to  mistake  the  com- 
fortable parts  of  our  condition;  and,  whilst  our  minds  are.  oc- 
cupied with  former  and  present  pains,  we  fondly  imagine  that 


56  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  V. 

if  we  could  recover  all  the  pleasures  of  our  former  life,  we 
would  be  superlatively  blessed ;  but  when  this  cannot  be  ex- 
pected, we  seem  to  be  fallen  into  an  abyss  of  misery  from  which 
we  can  never  be  raised  up.  Thus  we  often,  by  our  folly,  make 
our  present  days  miserable,  when  they  might  be  enjoyed  with 
some  degree  of  comfort.  The  lies  which  our  fancies  invent, 
we  believe  at  their  report,  although  we  might  easily  know  the 
deception. 

But  Naomi  could  with  propriety  say  that  she  had  gone  out 
full,  although  her  family  was  impoverished  when  she  left  the 
holy  land.  Although  she  was  destitute  of  silver  and  gold,  and 
of  the  conveniences,  and  almost  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  she 
was  rich  in  the  possession  of  her  husband  and  children.  At 
that  time,  when  she  compared  her  present  condition  with  her 
former,  she  thought  that  she  was  poor;  but  when  she  now  com- 
pared it  with  that  condition  in  which  she  returned  to  the  land 
of  Israel,  destitute  of  those  riches  which  she  thought  far  more 
valuable  than  gold  and  silver,  she  says,  I  went  out  full.  She  was 
now  sensible  that  she  might  have  been  happy  and  thankful  at 
that  time,  although  it  may  be  questioned  whether  she  thought 
so  when  the  necessity  of  a  voluntary  exile  damped  her  spirit. 
Too  often  our  vexations  cause  us  to  forget  our  mercies.  When 
every  thing  is  not  agreeable  to  our  wishes,  we  sink  in  one  dis- 
quiet the  sense  of  an  hundred  mercies.  We  are  unhappy, 
because  we  want  one  or  two  of  the  many  things  which  we  think 
necessary  for  our  comfort.  God  deprives  us  of  one  or  two 
more  of  the  ingredients  of  our  felicity,  of  far  more  consequence 
than  the  former,  and  this  convinces  us  that  we  had  formerly 
much  more  reason  to  be  thankful  than  we  could  then  believe. 

A  little  reflection  might  convince  us,  that  w-e  still  have  rea- 
son to  be  thankful.  ^It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are 
not  consumed.' 

Consider  these  words  of  Naomi,  ye  who  have  your  families 
yet  spared,  although  you  find  it  difficult,  in  the  present  dis- 
tress,* to  provide  for  them.  ^Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat, 
and  the  body  than  raiment?'     Bless  God  for  the  life  of  your 

*This  discourse  was  delivered  in  a  time  of  scarcity. 


CHAP.  I.  19-22.  OP  RUTH.  §7 

friends,  when  your  cupboards  are  empty.  Do  not  say  that 
you  are  bereaved  of  every  thing  that  makes  life  comfortable, 
if  you  enjoy  the  sweet  society  of  those  whom  you  love,  or  ought 
to  love,  as  parts  of  yourselves.  If  you  thanklessly  bemoan 
your  condition,  as  if  God  had  bereaved  you  of  all  the  fruits  of 
his  mercy,  the  time  may  come  when  you  will  think  that  you 
were  full,  although  you  thought  yourself  empty;  and  ought 
to  have  blessed  God  for  what  he  gave  and  preserved,  when  you 
were  giving  a  loose  to  useless  wailings  for  what  he  had  taken 
away. 

But  if  any  of  you  are  in  Naomi^s  condition,  bereaved  not 
only  of  your  substance,  but  of  your  friends,  which  are  more 
precious  to  you  than  your  substance;  amidst  your  humiliation 
of  spirit  under  the  rebukes  of  God,  remember  that  the  mercy 
of  God  is  not  clean  gone.  Ruth  was  left  to  the  good  woman 
when  her  sons  were  lost,  and  she  was  as  good  to  her  as  ten 
sons.  Had  she  not  erreat  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  daus^hter 
whom  she  had  borne  in  her  exile  ?  for  Ruth  was  not  only  the 
daughter-in-law  of  Naomi  according  to  the  flesh,  but  her 
spiritual  daughter  in  the  Lord. 

If  no  friends  of  any  kind  are  left  to  you  on  this  earth,  have 
you  not  a  friend  in  heaven  ?  Is  not  Christ  the  friend  of  our 
race?  and  does  he  not  call  unto  you  from  heaven  to  come  unto 
Him,  that  you  may  find  in  him  that  rest,  that  satisfaction,  which 
nothing  earthly  can  give? 

JVJiy  then  call  ye  me  Naomi,  seeing  the  Lord  hath  testified 
against  me,  and  the  Almighty  hath  afflicted  me  f  Afflictions  are  a 
testimony  against  men  that  they  are  sinners,  but  they  are  not 
always  a  testimony  that  the  sufferer  is  guilty  of  some  particular 
sins  for  which  God  chastiseth  him;  Job  ii.  3.  Yet,  when  our 
calamities  are  chastisements,  they  are  testimonies  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure on  account  of  our  offences;  Psalm  cvii.  17.  Those 
who  are  broken  in  their  spirit,  are  disposed  to  think  of  their 
sins  under  their  afflictions,  and  to  acknowledge  that  they  are 
testimonies  against  them,  the  fruits  of  a  just  quan'cl  that  God 
carries  on  with  them.  They  know  that  they  need  corrections, 
and  confess  that  they  have  deserved  all  that  comes  upon  them, 
and  a  thousand  times  more. 


5S  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  V. 

Yet  we  must  not  judge  our  neighbors  because  they  are 
sorely  afflicted ;  for  although  they  well  deserve  all  that  comes 
upon  them,  we  may  deserve  as  much,  and  more.  And  if  we 
are  not  corrected  by  God  when  we  offend  him,  we  are  so  far 
from  having  any  reason  to  magnify  ourselves  against  God's 
afflicted  people,  that  we  have  reason  to  tremble  lest  we  are 
found  '  bastards,  and  not  sons ;  for  what  son  is  he  whom  the 
Father  chasteneth  not?' 

And  the  Almighty  hath  afflicted  me.  Naomi  dwells  upon  the 
consideration  that  all  her  calamities  came  from  almighty  God. 
If  it  is  God  that  smites  us,  then  let  us  not  slight  our  troubles, 
or  overlook  any  part  of  the  operations  of  God's  hand ;  for  none 
of  his  works  are  unfruitful  works  of  darkness.  But  let  us  not 
faint  v/hen  we  are  rebuked  of  him.  ^It  is  the  Lord,  let  him 
do  what  seemeth  him  good.'  He  who  afflicts  you,  believers, 
is  your  God,  and  your  Father.  Learn  from  your  Redeemer 
to  say,  '  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I  not 
drink  it?' 


CHAP.  II.  1-4.  OF  RUTH.  59 


LECTURE  VI 


KUTH  GOES  TO  GLEAN,  AND  MEETS  WITH  BOAZ. 
CHAPTER  II.  1-4. 

Verse  1. — And  Naomi  had  a  kinsman  of  her  husband's,  a 
mighty  man  of  wealth,  of  the  family  of  Elimelech;  and  his  name 
was  Boaz. 

Some  allege  that  all  men  ought  to  be  equal  in  wealth ;  but 
God  maketh  rich,  and  maketh  poor.  He  gives  to  some  men 
power  to  get  wealth,  and  withholds  that  power  from  others. 
He  enables  some  to  leave  wealth  to  their  families,  whilst  the 
families  of  other  men  are  left  to  struggle  with  all  the  incon- 
veniences of  poverty.  '  Who  shall  say  to  God,  What  dost  thou?' 
or.  Why  disposest  thou  so  unequally  of  thy  benefits?  ^The 
earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof.'  He  hath  given 
the  earth,  indeed,  to  the  children  of  men,  but  he  was  not  bound 
to  give  to  every  one  of  them  equal  portions  of  it.  If  he  has 
given  us  any  portion  of  it  for  our  necessary  subsistence,  we 
ought  to  be  content  and  thankful.  Still  more,  if  he  hath  given 
us  an  ordinary  portion  of  the  comforts  of  life.  If  we  are  dis- 
pleased because  he  has  not  given  us  so  much  as  he  has  given 
to  some  of  our  neighbors,  '  our  eye  is  evil  because  he  is  good.' 
What  hast  thou  given  to  God?  Verify  thy  claim,  and  thou 
shalt  be  recompensed.     God  will  be  in  no  man's  debt. 

Naomi  was  very  poor,  and  she  had  a  kinsman  by  affinity 
who  was  very  rich.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  for  the 
rich  to  have  poor,  and  the  poor  to  have  rich  relations.  Let  a 
man  exert  all  his  activity,  let  his  labors  be  attended  with  all 
the  success  he  can  wish,  let  him  have  the  comfort  of  seeing  his 
children  becoming  rich  whilst  he  yet  lives  with  them,  yet  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  many  years  will  elapse  till  some  of  his 


60  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VI. 

posterity  feel  the  inconveniences  of  poverty.  Elimelech  was 
probably,  as  well  as  Boaz,  of  the  princely  race  of  Nahshon  ; 
yet  Boaz  was  a  mighty  man  of  wealth,  when  Elimelech  was 
under  the  necessity  of  leaving  his  country  to  seek  bread  in  a 
foreign  land.  Our  happiness  is  very  precarious  if  it  is  placed 
either  in  our  wealth  or  in  our  children.  What  multitudes  of 
Abraham^s  posterity  are  now  in  a  wretched  condition,  al- 
thouo^h  he  abounded  in  wealth  whilst  he  lived  in  this  world! 
But  he  sought  his  happiness  in  God,  and  in  the  better  country. 

Boaz  is  said  to  have  been  a  mighty  man  of  wealth.  The 
meaning  is,  that  he  possessed  a  very  large  portion  of  riches. 
But  the  expression  may  remind  us  of  the  power  that  is  ordi- 
narily conferred  by  wealth.  Rich  men  can  do  much,  although 
not  so  much  as  many  think  they  have  it  in  their  power  to  do. 
How  many  excellent  things  were  done  by  Job!  By  the  wise 
and  charitable  distribution  of  his  wealth,  '  he  was  eyes  to  the 
blind,  feet  to  the  lame,  an  husband  to  the  widow,  a  father  to 
the  fatherless ;  and  many  blessings  of  them  that  were  ready  to 
perish  came  upon  him.'  Yet  let  us  not  envy  the  rich.  They 
have  power  to  do  hurt  as  well  as  good ;  and  they  can  do  them- 
selves much  more  hurt  than  they  can  do  to  any  one  else.  We 
trust  too  much  to  ourselves,  if  we  think  that  w^e  would  cer- 
tainly make  a  good  use  of  riches  if  we  possessed  them.  Even 
Solomon,  with  all  his  wisdom,  found  that  his  wealth  was,  in 
many  instances,  a  snare.  He  did  much  good,  but  he  also  did 
much  evil  which  would  not  have  been  in  his  power  if  he  had 
been  a  poor  man. 

Naomi  had  a  kinsman  of  her  husband! s.  Marriage  makes  the 
husband  and  wife  one  flesh.  The  kinsmen  of  the  one  ought 
therefore  to  be  accounted  the  kinsmen  of  the  other.  It  is  wisely 
ordered  by  the  great  Lawgiver,  that  men  should  not  marry  the 
nearest  of  their  own  kindred,  that  various  families  might  be 
connected  by  means  of  this  institution.  Let  every  man,  there- 
fore, and  every  woman,  learn  to  show  that  respect  and  kind- 
ness to  their  relations  by  marriage,  which  they  owe  to  their 
relations  by  blood.  If  we  admire  the  behaviour  of  Naomi 
and  Ruth,  why  do  we  not  follow  their  example  as  far  as  our 
circumstances  are  like  theirs? 


CHAP.  IT.  1-4.  OF  RUTH.  61 

Verse  2. — And  Ruth,  the  3foabitess,  said  unto  Nacmii,  Let 
me  noiu  go  to  the  field,  and  glean  ears  of  corn  after  him  in  ichose 
sight  I  shall  find  grace. 

Ruth  is  again  called  the  Moabitess.  It  was  her  honour  that, 
when  her  birth  and  her  nativity  were  of  the  land  of  Moab,  her 
behaviour  was  that  of  an  Israelitess  indeed.  There  are  fools 
who  upbraid  men  or  women  of  virtue  with  their  parentage 
or  their  country.  It  is  mentioned  to  the  honor  of  Ruth,  not 
that  she  was  a  Moabitess,  but  that,  being  a  Moabitess,  she  was 
a  woman  of  virtue  and  piety.  It  will  be  the  condemnation  of 
many,  that,  when  they  were  born  in  the  church  of  God,  they 
behaved  as  if  Hheir  father  had  been  an  Amorite,  and  their 
mother  a  Hittite.'  It  will  be  the  praise  of  others,  that  they 
forgot  their  father's  house,  and  their  own  people,  to  join  them- 
selves unto  the  Lord. 

She  said  to  Naomi,  Let  me  go  and  glean.  It  was  necessary 
for  her  to  think  of  some  way  of  obtaining  a  livelihood  for  her- 
self and  for  her  mother-in-law,  who  had  returned  empty  to 
Bethlehem.  Some  women  in  Naomi's  condition  would  have 
thought  themselves  entitled  to  a  decent  support  from  their 
rich  relations ;  but  the  good  woman  did  not  wish  to  be  trouble- 
some to  her  friends.  It  does  not  appear  that  she  had  even 
spoken  of  them  to  Ruth,  and  Ruth  knew  no  way  of  obtaining 
bread  but  by  her  own  industry.  As  long  as  we  can  live  by 
the  labour  of  our  own  hands,  why  should  we  be  a  burden  to 
others?  This  the  apostle  Paul  declares,  that  ^if  any  man  will 
not  work,  neither  should  he  eat.' 

But  why  does  Ruth  propose  such  a  mean  employment  as 
that  of  gathering  ears  of  corn  wherever  she  could  find  a  man 
that  would  give  her  leave  ?  Should  not  a  woman,  connected 
by  marriage  with  an  illustrious  family  in  Judah,  have  sought 
out  a  more  honorable  employment?  It  is  to  be  considered, 
that  the  land  of  Israel  was  not  a  commercial  country  like  ours, 
and  afforded  much  less  choice  of  employment  to  the  poor.  Be- 
sides, the  refinements  of  our  age  and  country  were  never  thought 
of  in  those  ancient  times.  We  find  that  Boaz  was  far  from 
being  ashamed  of  the  employment  chosen  by  his  kinswoman, 
if' she  could  be  said  to  have  made  a  choice  where  choice  was 


62  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VI. 

perhaps  not  in  her  power.  She  and  her  mother  needed  bread; 
and  no  time  was  left  her  for  seeking  out  another  way  of  life, 
till  present  wants  were  supplied. 

'When  ye  reap  the  harvest  of  your  land/  said  God  to  his 
people,  'thou  shalt  not  wholly  reap  the  corners  of  thy  field, 
neither  shalt  thou  gather  the  gleanings  of  thy  harvest.  And 
thou  shalt  not  glean  thy  vineyard,  neither  shalt  thou  gather 
every  grape  of  thy  vineyard ;  thou  shalt  leave  them  for  the 
poor  and  stranger:  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.'  Lev.  xix.  9, 10. 
In  these  words,  God  gives  to  the  poor  and  stranger  a  right  to 
glean  in  the  fields  of  the  Israelites.  Euth  was  both  poor  and 
a  stranger.  The  same  God  who  gave  the  field  to  the  proprie- 
tor, gave  the  gleanings  to  the  poor  and  stranger.  She  had  the 
same  right  to  glean  in  the  fields,  which  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
had  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn  in  another  man's  field ;  and  even 
the  malicious  Pharisees  did  not  question  their  right  to  do  it 
on  a  labouring  day,  because  the  law  had  said,  'When  thou 
comestinto  the  standing  corn  of  thy  neighbour,  then  thou  mayest 
pluck  the  ears  with  thy  hand,  but  thou  shalt  not  move  a  sickle 
into  thy  neighbour's  standing  corn.' 

Yet  Ruth,  who  was  probably  ignorant  of  the  law,  was  will- 
ing to  accept  as  a  favour  what  she  might  have  claimed  as  a 
right.  'Let  me  go  and  glean  in  the  man's  field  in  whose  sight 
I  shall  find  grace.'  The  poor  are  often  too  bold  in  their 
claims.  They  have  a  title,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  their  ne- 
cessary food  from  the  rich ;  yet  they  ought  to  be  thankful  to 
the  rich  when  they  are  willing  to  allow  their  claim.  The  rich 
should  be  ready  to  distribute;  yet  they  must  be  judges  of 
their  own  ability  to  distribute,  of  the  persons  that  have  a  claim 
upon  their  charity,  and  of  the  share  that  these  claimants  ought 
to  have  of  the  fruits  of  their  liberality.  The  modest  and 
thankful  among  the  poor  will  be  most  cheerfully  and  liberally 
supplied ;  nor  will  they  be  despised  for  their  poverty  by  any 
Christian  who  remembers  that  our  Lord  was  once  so  poor  for 
their  sakes,  that  he  accepted  of  the  ministrations  of  the  sub- 
stance of  many  women  from  Gralilee.  Impudence  and  greedi- 
ness will  expose  poor  persons  to  contempt  and  neglect,  but 
honest  poverty  will  always  meet  with  respect. 


CHAP.  II.  1-4.  OP  RUTH.  63 

'Let  me  go  and  glean  in  the  field  of  the  man  that  will  fa- 
vour me  with  permission.^  She  is  willing  to  employ  herself  in 
this  mean  occupation,  rather  than  return  to  the  land  of  Moab, 
where  she  might  perhaps  have  found  a  more  plentiful  sub- 
sistence, without  incurring  obligations  to  strangers.  She  was 
a  true  daughter  of  Abraham,  although  she  sprung  from  Lot. 
AVhen  Abraham  came  into  the  land  whither  Ruth  had  now 
come  to  dwell,  there  was  a  famine;  but  Abraham  never  thought 
of  returning  to  the  country  of  his  kindred,  which  he  had  left 
in  obedience  to  God.  He  would  rather  risk  his  own  life,  and 
what  was  dearer  to  him  than  his  life,  amongst  strangers,  than 
return  to  the  country  which  God  had  commanded  him  to  leave. 
Ruth  would  rather  have  been  a  gleaner  of  the  ears  of  corn  in 
the  land  of  Israel,  than  a  lady  in  the  land  of  Moab.  She  had 
come  to  trust  under  the  shadow  of  the  wings  of  Naomi's  God ; 
and  the  meanest  estate  in  the  land  where  He  was  known  was  pre- 
ferable in  her  eyes  to  the  highest  station  in  a  land  of  idolaters. 

Ruth  does  not  propose  that  Naomi  should  go  with  her  to 
the  field.  She  wished  her  honored  mother  to  enjoy  the  rest 
and  ease  suited  to  her  time  of  life,  whilst  herself  was  exposed 
to  the  troubles  and  inconveniences  of  her  humble  occupation 
in  the  fields  of  strangers.  Young  persons  should  be  cheer- 
fully willing  to  bear  fatigues  and  troubles  for  the  sake  of  their 
aged  parents,  that  they  may  enjoy  such  ease  as  the  infirmities 
of  age  require.  Let  those  who  are  in  the  vigour  of  age,  if 
their  parents  are  feeble,  remember  what  their  mothers  endured 
for  them  in  infancy  or  in  sickness ;  how  they  willingly  suffered 
anxiety  of  mind,  the  want  of  sleep,  and  many  fatigues  of  body, 
that  their  beloved  offspring  might  enjoy  pleasure,  or  be  re- 
lieved from  distress.  How  selfish  are  the  spirits  of  those 
young  persons,  who  grudge  toil  or  expense  for  their  parents  in 
that  time  of  life  when  they  can  enjoy  little  pleasure  but  what 
arises  from  beholding  the  affectionate  attachment  of  their  chil- 
dren! The  charities  of  the  heart  sweeten  life.  A  young  wo- 
man cheerfully  laboring  for  aged  parents,  is  far  happier  than 
a  fashionable  lady  spending  in  idleness  and  dissipation  the 
fruits  of  the  industry  of  her  ancestors. 

David,  the  great  grandson  of  Ruth,  showed  a  like  regard  to 


64  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VI. 

his  parents  with  that  which  Ruth  showed  to  her  mother-in- 
law.  Jesse  needed  no  provision  to  be  made  by  his  children  for 
his  old  age ;  but  he  found  himself  under  a  necessity  of  be- 
coming an  exile,  to  avoid  the  rage  of  the  tyrant,  whose  hatred 
to  the  son  of  Jesse  extended  to  all  his  friends.  David  was 
unwilling  that  his  aged  parents  should  share  in  the  toils  and 
dangers  of  his  wandering  life;  and  therefore  he  supplicated 
the  king  of  Moab  to  afford  them  protection  till  he  should  know 
what  God  would  do  for  him.  In  his  distresses  he  wished  not 
his  parents  to  share,  but  resolved  that  they  should  share  in  his 
prosperity  if  they  were  spared  to  see  it. 

Verse  2. — And  she  said  unto  her,  Go,  my  daughter.  Naomi 
was  blessed  with  the  same  humble  and  kind  disposition  with 
her  daughter-in-law.  Doubtless,  it  was  a  great  grief  to  her 
that  she  could  not  place  R-uth  in  a  more  comfortable  and  re- 
spectable condition  among  her  own  people;  but  since  it  was 
the  will  of  God  that  they  should  live  in  poverty,  and  subsist 
by  the  humblest  of  occupations,  she  readily  submits  to  His 
pleasure.  Why  should  we  repine  at  God's  dealings  with  either 
ourselves  or  our  friends?  If  God  has  humbled  them  by  his 
providence,  we  ought  to  be  thankful  if  he  has  given  them  a 
spirit  suited  to  their  lot.  If  he  has  given  them  little,  let  us 
be  thankful  for  that  little.  If  he  has  given  them  nothing,  let 
us  be  thankful  if  he  has  given  them  hands  and  a  heart  to 
work.  Every  thing  that  God  gives  any  of  us,  and  every  op- 
portunity of  obtaining  what  we  need,  are  undeserved  mercies 
from  the  Giver  of  all  good. 

Go  J  my  daughter!  The  affection  of  Ruth  to  Naomi  was  not 
unmerited.  Naomi  loved  and  treated  Ruth  as  a  daughter. 
The  law  of  kindness  was  in  her  mouth,  and  transfused  grati- 
tude and  love  into  the  heart  of  her  daughter-in-law.  Mothers 
often  complain,  with  reason,  of  the  ingratitude  of  their  chil- 
dren ;  yet  one  of  the  reasons  is  frequently  to  be  found  at  home. 
If  there  were  more  Naomis,  we  might  expect  to  see  more  Ruths. 
Undoubtedly,  children  owe  affection  and  honour  to  their  mothers, 
in  whatever  manner  they  behave.  The  relation,  independently 
of  every  other  consideration,  demands  filial  duty.  But  why 
should  parents,  by  coldness  or  rudeness  to  the  fruit  of  theii 


CHAP.  II.  1-4.  OF   EUTH.  65 

o\Yn  bodies,  provoke  them  to  break  the  first  commandment 
with  promise,  to  the  prejudice  of  both  themselves  and  their 
children?  If  it  is  the  duty  of  children  to  honour  their  parents, 
it  must  be  the  duty  of  parents  to  behave  in  such  a  way  as  to 
procure  honour  from  their  children. 

Some  parents  do  much  for  their  children,  and  put  them- 
selves to  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  their  account,  and  after  all, 
lose  the  thanks  which  they  might  have,  by  the  coldness,  the 
bitterness,  the  repulsive  manner,  with  which  they  often  speak 
to  them.  ^Is  not  a  word  better  than  a  gift?  but  both  are 
with  a  gracious  man.'  Our  Lord  tells  us,  that  by  our  words 
we  shall  be  justified  or  condemned;  and  there  is  no  place 
where  our  tongues  ought  to  be  better  governed  than  in  our 
own  houses.  It  is  delightful  to  visit  those  families  where  the 
various  members  appear,  from  their  mutual  converse,  intent 
upon  making  one  another  happy.  It  is  painful  to  observe 
sons  and  daughters,  fathers  and  mothers,  wives  and  husbands, 
turning  their  common  dwelling  into  a  house  of  correction  to 
one  another. 

Verse  3. — And  she  loent,  and  came,  and  gleaned  in  the  field 
after  the  reapers;  and  her  hap  was  to  light  on  a  jjart  of  the  field 
belonging  unto  Boaz,  ivho  was  of  the  kindred  of  Elimelech. 

There  are  some  whose  virtue  and  industry  lie  only  in  their 
tongues.  They  say,  and  do  not.  But  Ruth  was  no  less  dili- 
gent in  business,  than  wise  in  her  resolutions.  When  she  ob- 
tained Naomi's  leave,  she  went  forth  immediately  to  the  field, 
and  asked  leave  of  a  certain  steward  whom  she  met  with,  to 
glean  and  gather  after  the  reapers  among  the  sheaves.  This 
leave  being  readily  granted  her,  she  entered  with  cheerfulness 
upon  her  work,  in  which  she  continued  till  the  heat  of  the  day 
compelled  her  to  make  use  of  a  shelter. 

Although  Naomi  had  several  relations  at  Bethlehem,  she 
did  not  desire  Ruth  to  go  to  any  of  their  fields.  'Not  that  she 
'panted  confidence  in  their  kindness.  She  was,  at  least,  sensible 
that  Boaz  had  been  a  kind  friend  before  she  went  to  the  coun- 
try of  Moab ;  but  she  knew  that  her  poverty  gave  her  a  right 
to  send  Ruth  to  glean  in  the  field  of  any  of  the  Israelites,  and 
she  seems  not  to  have  wished  to  appear  troublesome  to  her  re- 
5 


6(^  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VI. 

latlons.  Those  are  most  likely  to  meet  with  kindness  from 
their  rich  friends,  who  are  least  intrusive. 

It  was  the  hap  of  Ruth  to  come  into  the  field  of  Boaz ;  aftd 
her  coming  into  his  field,  brought  her  into  acquaintance  with 
the  man  who  was  to  be  her  husband,  and  by  whom  she  was  to 
become  one  of  the  mothers  of  our  Lord.  The  misery  or  hap- 
piness of  our  life  is  often  derived  from  accidents  that  appear 
quite  trivial.  ^Time  and  chance  happeneth  to  all  men/  and 
no  man  can  tell  what  consequences  tiie  slightest  accident  may 
have.  Connections  happy  or  pernicious,  riches  or  poverty, 
life  or  death,  may  be  the  consequence  of  a  walk  or  a  visit  in- 
tended for  the  amusement  of  a  single  hour. 

It  is  plain  that  divine  Providence  was  her  conductor  to  the 
field  of  Boaz.  Nothing  is  accidental  to  God.  When  the  lot 
is  cast  into  the  lap,  the  disposing,  the  whole  disposing  of  it, 
is  of  the  Lord.  We  are  ever  in  His  hands,  and  he  can  bring 
the  richest  benefits,  or  the  sorest  chastisements,  out  of  causes 
from  which  we  formed  no  apprehension,  either  of  good  or  evil. 

^The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord,  and  he 
greatly  delighteth  in  his  way.^  The  same  God  that  brought 
Ruth  from  Moab  to  Bethlehem,  led  her  to  the  field  of  Boaz  for 
her  good.  He  led  her  to  the  land  of  Israel,  that  she  might 
be  fully  instructed  in  righteousness.  He  led  her  to  the  field 
of  Boaz,  that  her  virtue  might  become  conspicuous  to  a  man 
who  had  it  in  his  power  and  in  his  will  to  reward  her.  When 
Abraham's  servant  went  to  take  a  wife  to  his  son  from  amongst 
his  kindred,  Abraham  told  him  that  the  God  before  whom  he 
walked  would  send  his  angel  to  conduct  him ;  and  the  faith- 
ful servant  thankfully  acknowledged  that  he  had  not  been 
amused  with  vain  hopes.  'I  being  in  the  way,  the  Lord  led 
me  to  the  house  of  my  master's  brethren.'  All  who  are  wise 
enough  to  observe  the  agency  of  Providence  in  the  various  ac- 
cidents of  their  lives,  will  find  like  reason  with  Abraham's 
servant  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness.  We  may  indeed  r^ 
collect  a  variety  of  accidents  that  have  proved  hurtful,  as  well 
as  others  that  have  turned  out  beneficial  to  us.  But  to  those 
who  are  taught  to  make  a  due  improvement  of  what  befals 
them,  nothing  is  eventually  hurtful.      *  There  shall  no  evil 


CHAP.  II.  1-4.  OF   RUTH.  67 

happen  to  the  just.'  The  things  that  are  evil  to  others  are 
good  to  them.  'All  the  paths  of  the  Lord  our  God  are  mercy 
and  truth  to  them  that  remember  his  covenant  and  his  testi- 
monies.' 

Verse  4. — And  behold  JBoaz  came  from  Bethlehem,  and  said 
unto  the  reapers.  The  Lord  be  loith  you !  And  they  answered 
him,  The  Lord  bless  thee  ! 

Boaz  was  an  old  man,  and  he  had  a  steward  set  over  the 
reapers.  Yet  he  came  from  Bethlehem  to  see  with  his  own 
eyes  how  his  work  was  performed.  When  our  Lord  says, 
'Take  no  thought  what  ye  shall  eat  or  drink/  or,  as  the  words 
ought  rather  to  have  been  rendered.  Take  no  anxious  thought 
what  ye  shall  eat  or  drink,  he  does  not  recommend  indolence 
or  carelessness  about  our  worldly  business.  We  must  seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  then  all 
other  things  shall  be  added  to  us ;  but  they  shall  be  added  to 
us  whilst  we  are  using  warrantable  means  to  obtain  them. 
'Be  diligent,'  says  Solomon,  'to  know  the  state  of  thy  flocks, 
and  look  well  to  thy  herds.'  Slothfulness  fttay  be  the  ruin  of 
men  of  princely  fortunes,  '  for  riches  are  not  for  ever,  and  doth 
the  crown  endure  unto  all  generations  ?' 

Although  Boaz  was  a  rich  man,  he  despised  not  his  men- 
servants  nor  his  maid-servants.  He  did  not  look  upon  his 
reapers  with  a  supercilious  eye.  He  did  not  come  unto  them 
with  words  of  pride  or  reproach,  but  with  a  blessing  in  his 
mouth.  The  Lord  be  with  you!  He  was  a  good  man,  and 
there  is  no  place  where  real  goodness  will  more  display  itself 
than  in  a  man's  own  family,  not  only  to  his  wife  and  children, 
but  likewise  to  his  servants.  A  good  master  will  be  a  father 
to  his  servants  when  they  faithfully  perform  their  work.  Such 
even  Naaman,  when  he  was  a  heathen,  appears  to  have  been; 
and  happy  was  it  for  himself  that  he  had  taught  his  servants 
to  look  upon  him  as  a  father.  Few  parents  have  derived  such 
benefits  from  the  most  dutiful  children  as  Naaman  derived 
from  the  confidence  and  duty  of  his  servants,  when  they  ad- 
vised him  to  comply  with  the  prophet's  advice. 

Good  men  will  pray  for  the  best  blessings  to  their  neigh- 
bours around  them,  and  especially  to  those  of  their  own  house. 


68  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VI. 

It  has  been  often  the  happiness  of  masters  to  be  blessed  with 
praying  servants,  and  often  the  happiness  of  servants  to  have 
masters  whose  prayers  brought  down  the  blessing  of  heaven 
upon  those  who  dwelt  under  their  roof. 
^  The  Lord  be  with  you!  This  was  a  real  prayer  from  the 
"mouth  of  Boaz.  It  is  too  common  with  men  to  say,  ^God  be  , 
with  you !'  when  God  is  not  in  their  thoughts.  The  name  of  God 
is  profaned  when  it  is  used  without  consideration.  It  is  reported 
of  the  great  philosopher  Boyle,  that  he  never  mentioned  the 
name  of  God  without  making  a  visible  pause  in  his  discourse. 
Most  certainly  none  of  us  ought  to  mention  such  an  awful 
name  without  thinking  of  Him  who  is  called  by  it,  or  to  seek 
any  thing  from  him  for  ourselves  or  others  without  earnest 
desires  to  obtain  it,  and  without  a  becoming  sense  of  our  de- 
pendence upon  him  for  all  those  good  things  which  we  wish 
ourselves  or  others  to  enjoy. 

All  good  things  are  requested  in  this  prayer.  The  Lord  he 
with  thee  !  God's  presence  and  favor  will  satisfy  our  souls;  will 
supply  every  waat ;  will  turn  sorrow  into  joy,  and  the  shadow 
of  death  into  the  morning.  But  without  God's  presence  and 
blessing,  the  richest  confluence  of  sublunary  blessings  will  leave 
us  wretched  and  miserable,  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.  The 
laborious  reapers,  whose  toils  ended  only  with  the  sun,  and 
were  every  day  renewed,  were  happy  beyond  expression  if  their 
master's  prayer  was  heard.  The  kings  who  reign  over  many 
lands  know  not  what  happiness  means,  if  they  have  nothing 
but  what  earth  can  bestow.  ^Many  say.  Who  will  show  us 
any  good?'  but  few  know  what  that  good  is  which  they  should 
constantly  seek  to  obtain.  ^Lord,  lift  up  the  light  of  thy 
countenance  upon  us !'  and  our  hearts  will  be  filled  with  that 
gladness  which  the  men  who  have  their  portion  in  this  life 
never  taste,  in  the  richest  abundance  of  their  corn  and  wine. 

The  Lord  bless  thee!  said  the  reapers  to  Boaz.  They  loved 
their  master;  they  were  grateful  for  his  kindness;  they  prayed 
for  the  same  blessings  to  him  which  he  requested  for  them.  Mas- 
ters often  complain  of  the  selfishness  of  their  servants,  and  the 
complaint  is  often  too  just.  But  they  must  be  very  depraved 
men  who  are  not  faithful  servants  and  sincere  friends  to  such 


CHAP.  II.  1-4.  OF   RUTH.  69 

masters  as  Boaz.     *  Even  publicans/  says  our  Lord,  ^  love  those 
who  love  them.^ 

The  Lord  he  with  you! — The  Lord  bless  thee!     Such  were 
the  petitions  which  the  Israelites  were  taught  by  God  to  pre- 
sent to  his  throne,  for  themselves  and  for  one  another.     The 
priests  were  commanded  to  pray  for  all  the  people  in  these 
words,  'The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee.     The  Lord 
make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  to  thee.    The 
Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace.' 
'  Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace,'  &c.,  or,  '  The  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all!'  is  the  prayer  of  Paul  for  all  the 
churches.      Christians  are  called  to  inherit  a  blessing,  and 
therefore  they  must  bless  and  not  curse.     They  ought  to  bless 
even  those  who  curse  them.     It  is  God  alone  who  can  give  the 
blessings  that  we  need;  but  we  are  both  required  and  abun- 
dantly encouraged  to  ask  His  blessings,  not  only  for  ourselves, 
but  for  our  friends  and  neighbours,  our  kindred  and  servants. 
He  is  the  fountain  of  blessings.    He  sent  his  Son  into  the  world 
to  purchase  for  us  the  best  blessings.     He  hath  promised  that 
'  men  shall  be  blessed  in  Him,  and  that  all  generations  shall 
call  him  blessed.'    'Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive.'     Ask  for  your 
friends  and  dependents.     You  are  not  straitened  in  Him,  who 
giveth  liberally  and  upbraideth  not.     Ask  his  blessings  when 
you  are  upon  your  knees  in  your  stated  devotions.     Seek  them 
by  earnest  aspirations  when  you  are  on  your  beds ;  when  you 
are  sitting  in  the  house;  when  you  are  walking  by  the  way; 
when  you  are  employed  in  the  businesses  of  life.     Never  ap- 
proach irreverently  to  the  Divine  Majesty.     But  where  the 
fear  of  God  habitually  governs  the  heart,  prayer  need  not,  and 
will  not,  be  confined  to  stated  times.     Such  requests  as  these 
of  Boaz  and  his  servants,  if  they  are  offered  up  to  God  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  meet  with  a  gracious  audience,  when  the  most 
ostentatious  devotions  of  the  formalist  are  despised  and  ab- 
horred. 


70  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VIL 


LECTUEE  VII 


BOAZ  SPEAKS  KINDLY  TO   EUTH  IN  THE  HARVEST   FIELD. 
CHAPTER  ii.  5-14. 

Verse  5. — Then  said  JBoaz  unto  his  servant  that  loas  set  over 
the  reaper's.  Whose  daimsel  is  this? 

A  great  man's  house  is  different  from  an  ordinary  man's. 
There  are  servants  in  it  of  different  stations.  Boaz  was  a  mighty 
man  of  wealth,  and  he  had  not  only  reapers,  but  a  man  set 
over  the  reapers.  Servants  commonly  need  the  eye  of  a  mas- 
ter, or  of  one  in  the  place  of  a  master,  to  direct  their  work,  to 
stimulate  industry,  to  prevent  or  to  remedy  dissension.  Good 
servants  will  be  pleased  with  proper  superintendence,  and  bad 
servants  need  it. 

Although  Boaz  had  a  faithful  steward  to  govern  his  reapers, 
he  went  himself  to  the  field  to  see  how  his  work  went  on,  and 
he  was  one  of  those  happy  masters  whom  the  servants  were 
happy  to  see. 

When  he  saw  the  fields  covered  with  plenty,  he  no  doubt 
thought  of  the  goodness  of  God,  who  had  now  visited  his  peo- 
ple, and  blessed  them,  after  nine  years  of  famine,  with  fruitful 
seasons.  But  his  attention  was  soon  engaged  by  a  beauteous 
stranger  whom  he  saw  employed  in  gleaning  the  ears  of  corn. 
He  asked  the  steward  who  she  was,  not  with  an  intention  to 
check,  but  with  an  intention,  if  he  found  she  deserved  it,  to 
give  her  encouragement. 

Verse  6. — And  the  servant  that  was  set  over  the  reapers  an- 
swered and  said  J  It  is  the  Moahltish  damsel  that  came  back  with 
Naomi  out  of  the  country  of  Moab. 

The  first  thing  required  in  stewards  is,  Hhat  a  man  be  found 
faithful'  to  his  employer;  but  it  is  also  a  good  property  in  a 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OP   RUTH.  71 

steward  to  be  humane  towards  his  lord\s  servants,  and  towards 
all  that  have  any  dependence  upon  him  for  employment  or 
favours.  The  man  that  was  set  over  the  reapers  of  Boaz  had 
already  showed  such  favour  to  Ruth  as  it  was  the  part  of  a  stew- 
ard to  do ;  and,  by  his  answer  to  his  master's  question  concern- 
ing her,  he  was  a  means  of  procuring  her  such  favour  as  a  stew- 
ard could  not  confer  without  permission.  Words  fitly  spoken 
may  do  much  good ;  and  indicate  good  sense  and  good  dispo- 
sitions in  the  speaker. 

'  It  is  the  Moabitish  damsel  that  came  with  Naomi.'  She 
was  a  Moabitess,  but  she  was  well  entitled  to  all  that  respect 
which  was  due  to  the  females  of  Israel,  when  she  came  with 
Naomi  from  the  country  of  Moab.  The  Moabites  were  not  to 
enter  into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  until  the  tenth  gen- 
eration. Yet  the  children  of  Israel,  when  they  came  out  of 
Egypt?  ^vere  taught  to  respect  the  ISEoabites  as  the  children  of 
Lot,  the  friend  and  disciple  of  Abraham.  They  had  exchanged 
the  God  of  their  father  for  Chemosh,  but  Boaz  might  reason- 
ably pity  them  for  their  unhappy  apostasy,  when  he  considered 
that  his  own  people  were  reclaimed  from  many  like  apostasies 
by  such  extraordinary  means  as  had  not  been  employed  with 
any  other  nation.  But  whatever  might  be  thought  of  the  de- 
generate race  of  the  righteous  Lot,  Ruth  was  entitled  to  high 
praise,  when  she  had  left  the  gods  of  Moab  to  worship  no  other 
god  but  the  God  of  Israel. 

^It  is  the  Moabitish  damsel  that  came  back  with  Naomi.' 
Boaz  was  related  to  Naomi.  He  knew  her  worth ;  he  pitied 
the  unhappy  reverses  of  her  fortune ;  and  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  he  would  look  with  a  kind  eye  upon  that  Moabitish  damsel 
who  had  been  her  son's  wife,  and  who  testified  such  uncommon 
attachment  to  her  mother-in-law,  when  the  relation  between 
them  seemed  to  be  dissolved. 

It  appears  from  these  words  of  the  steward,  that  Boaz  had 
heard  of  this  Moabitish  damsel  that  came  to  Bethlehem  with 
her  mother-in-law.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  likewise,  that  he 
knew  the  poor  circumstances  in  which  they  returned.  Why, 
then,  did  not  Boaz,  before  this  time,  visit  Naomi,  and  endeavour 
to  console  her  in  her  afflictions,  and  to  alleviate  them?     We 


72  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

cannot  give  a  positive  answer  to  this  question.  We  can  easily 
say,  it  was  not  owing  to  want  of  generosity  and  kindness  in 
Boaz ;  verse  20.  Reasons  might  have  hitherto  hindered  him 
which  are  not  mentioned,  and  ^vhich  there  was  no  occasion  to 
mention.  Perhaps  Boaz,  though  full  of  good  intentions,  might 
be  too  dilatory  in  executing  them.  He  certainly  would  not 
have  suifered  either  Naomi,  or  the  Moabitish  damsel,  to  be 
oppressed  with  the  extremes  of  poverty,  whilst  he  was  able  to 
supply  their  need;  but  good  men  have  sometimes  been  too 
slow  in  executing  their  good  intentions. 

Verse  7. — And  she  said,  I  pray  you,  let  me  glean  and  gather 
after  the  reapers  among  the  sheaves:  so  she  came,  and  hath  con- 
tinned  even  from  the  morning  until  now,  that  she  tarried  a  little 
in  the  house. 

The  steward  informs  his  master,  that  the  Moabitish  damsel 
did  not  presume  to  enter  the  field  without  leave  asked  and 
obtained.  Nor  did  he  apologize  to  his  master  for  granting 
her  the  liberty  of  gleaning.  He  did  nothing  but  wdiat  the 
authority  given  him  by  his  master  warranted  him  to  do.  As 
it  is  a  sin  for  a  judge  to  countenance  a  poor  man  in  his  cause, 
it  would  be  no  less  criminal  in  a  steward  to  bestow  favors  upon 
the  poor,  without  the  consent  of  his  master  expressed  or  under- 
stood. But  this  steward  knew  that  Boaz  did  not  wish  any 
poor  person  to  be  excluded  from  gleaning  in  his  fields,  and 
least  of  all  a  poor  stranger  from  the  land  of  Moab,  who  had 
showed  so  strong  an  attachment  to  Naomi,  and  to  Naomi's  God. 

'She  hath  continued  from  the  morning  even  until  now,  that 
she  tarried  a  little  in  the  house.'  The  steward  commends  her 
industry  in  these  words.  She  had  continued  busy  at  her  work 
from  the  morning,  till  the  heat,  or  some  other  cause,  constrained 
her  for  a  little  to  take  shelter  in  a  house  or  shed,  where  it  is 
probable  the  reapers  rested  at  noon.  The  heat  of  the  weather 
in  the  land  of  Israel  would  render  it  almost  impossible  to 
continue  in  harvest  from  morning  to  night,  exposed,  without 
a  shelter,  to  the  beams  of  the  sun.  Ruth  had  spent  no  more 
time  under  covert,  tlian  was  absolutely  necessary  for  enabling 
her  to  return  to  her  labours.  Some  of  the  most  ancient  trans- 
lations differ  from  our  copies  of  the  Bible,  and   say  that  she 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OP  RUTH.  73 

had  continued  all  day  at  her  labour,  without  returning  to  her 
house,  or  enjoying  any  rest.  She  was  a  true  daughter  of  Jacob, 
who  was  so  careful  of  the  flocks  committed  to  him,  that,  with- 
out repining,  he  suffered  himself  to  be  consumed  in  the  day- 
time by  the  heat,  and  in  the  night  to  be  pierced  by  the  chilling 
frosts. 

'It  is  vain  to  rise  up  early  and  sit  up  late,  to  eat  the  bread 
of  sorrows.'  We  ought  to  consult  our  health  in  carrying  on 
our  labours,  and  not  to  make  them  a  burden  too  heavy  for  us 
to  bear.  When  covetous  desires  of  gain  induce  men  to  over- 
work their  powers,  they  sacrifice  their  health  to  Mammon, 
whom  they  have  chosen  for  their  God.  But  Ruth  was  labour- 
ing for  her  mother  as  well  as  herself.  Her  love  to  Naomi 
would  give  her  spirits  and  strength  to  endure  the  heat  of  the 
climate.  A  reaper  or  a  gleaner  in  the  field,  sustaining  toil  or 
inclement  weather  to  support  her  aged  parent,  is  worthy  of 
more  praise  than  a  victorious  general,  who  exposes  himself  to 
all  the  perils  of  battle,  if  his  chief  view  is  to  gather  laurels  for 
himself. 

Verse  8. — Then  said  Boaz  unto  Ruth,  Hear  est  thou  not,  my 
daughter  f  Go  not  to  glean  in  another  field,  neither  go  from  hence, 
but  abide  here  fast  hy  my  maidens. 

Boaz  was  glad  to  meet  with  the  Moabitish  damsel  that 
came  with  Naomi.  He  had  already,  we  may  presume,  in- 
tended to  show  her  the  kindness  of  God;  and  now,  when  Pro- 
vidence brought  her  into  his  presence,  he  addresses  her  in  the 
language  of  kindness,  'Hear  me,  my  daughter.'  Ruth  had 
left  her  father  and  her  mother.  She  lost  nothing.  Naomi 
was  become  her  mother,  and  Boaz  now  speaks  to  her  and  treats 
her  as  a  father.  We  may,  without  hesitation,  leave  those  re- 
lations that  are  dearest  and  kindest  to  us  for  God.  'He  that 
leaveth  father  or  mother  for  me,'  says  Christ,  'shall  receive  an 
hundred  fold  more  in  this  world,  fathers  and  mothers,  brethren 
and  sisters.'  That  loss  must  be  great  indeed  which  infinite 
Goodness  cannot  compensate. 

Go  not  to  glean  in  another  field,  neither  go  from,  hence.  This 
prohibition  is  full  of  love.  The  expression  signifies,  that  Boaz 
would  take  it  highly  amiss  if  she  went  to  glean  in  any  other 


74  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

field  but  his  own.  But  it  implies  a  promise,  that  she  should 
find  it  her  interest  to  glean  in  his  field.  The  tenderest  love 
may  be  expressed  in  the  language  of  command,  of  prohibition, 
or  even  of  threatening.  Many  of  God's  commandments  and  pro- 
hibitions are  expressions  of  his  excellent  loving-kindness.  What 
can  be  more  full  of  grace  than  the  first  commandment  of  the 
moral  law,  ^Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me?'  or 
Hosea's  comment  upon  it,  ^I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  from  the 
land  of  Egypt;  and  thou  shalt  know  no  God  but  me,  for  there 
is  no  Saviour  besides  me?'  When  God  commands  us  to  trust 
in  himself  alone,  and  threatens  us  -with  his  displeasure  if  we 
place  our  confidence  any  where  else,  does  he  not  tell  us  that 
we  shall  find  it  our  highest  interest  to  trust  in  him? 

Abide  fast  by  my  maidens.  Young  women,  if  they  are  wise, 
will  ordinarily  choose  their  companions  from  amongst  their 
own  sex.  Euth  was  a  modest  woman,  and  would  be  glad  to 
find  a  virtuous  woman  with  whom  she  might  associate  in  the 
field  of  Boaz.  There  were  men  employed  with  them  in  the 
labours  of  the  harvest,  but  Ruth  had  nothing  to  apprehend 
either  from  the  male  or  female  servants  of  this  good  man,  who 
ruled  his  family  in  the  fear  the  Lord. 

Verse  9. — Let  thine  eyes  be  on  the  field  that  they  do  reap,  and 
go  thou  after  them;  have  I  not  charged  the  young  men  that  they 
shall  not  touch  theef  andichen  thou  art  athirst,  go  unto  the  vessels 
and  drinh  of  thai  which  the  young  men  have  drawn. 

Whilst  Ruth  was  to  keep  by  the  young  women,  and  go  after 
them,  she  had  no  reason  to  dread  the  young  men.  Young 
men,  in  any  station  of  life,  are  often,  by  their  rudeness  or  li- 
centiousness, the  terror  of  modest  young  women ;  but  Boaz 
w^ould  allow  of  no  indecency  in  words  or  conversation  amongst 
his  servants.  A  good  man  will  not  only  refrain  from  doing 
or  speaking  evil,  but  will  restrain  all  that  depend  on  him  from 
licentious  or  rude  behaviour.  Paul  will  have  none  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  office  of  elders  in  the  church,  who  do  not  rule 
well  their  own  houses.  Not  that  it  is  a  duty  incumbent  on 
elders  only,  to  keep  their  families  in  due  subjection,  but  because 
elders  must  be  exemplary  in   every  thing  worthy  of  praise. 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OF  RUTH.  75 

We  are  all  accountable  for  those  evils  which  it  was  in  our 
power  to  have  prevented. 

Have  not  I  charged  the  young  menf  says  Boaz  to  Ruth.  He 
knew  the  heart  of  a  stranger.  She  might  think  that  she  stood 
exposed,  as  a  sojourner  from  Moab,  to  those  insults  to  which 
a  stranger  from  Israel  might  be  exposed  in  her  own  country. 
'  We  have  heard  of  the  pride  of  Moab.  He  is  exceeding  proud ;' 
and,  as  wickedness  proceedeth  from  the  wicked,  insolence  and 
abusive  treatment  may  be  expected  from  the  proud.  But  if 
Ruth  had  any  fears  of  this  kind,  Boaz  puts  an  end  to  them. 
It  is  an  office  of  humanity  to  comfort  those  that  are  cast  down, 
and  to  dispel  every  uneasy  apprehension  from  the  modest  and 
timorous.  A  man  of  sensibility  knows,  in  some  measure,  what 
is  passing  within  the  breast  of  his  poor  neighbour;  and  will, 
by  his  words,  uphold  him  that  is  falling,  and  confirm  the  feeble 
knees. 

We  do  not  live  in  a  country  so  fruitful  as  the  land  of  Israel. 
Our  fields  are  not  like  the  fields  of  Bethlehem  or  Ephratah, 
which  received  their  names  from  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil. 
Yet  every  place  has  its  advantages,  as  well  as  its  disadvantages. 
We  are  better  stored  with  water  than  that  land  which  flowed 
with  milk  and  honey.  It  was  no  small  favour  to  Ruth,  that 
Boaz  invited  her,  whenever  she  was  thirsty,  to  go  and  drink  of 
the  water  which  his  young  men  had  drawn.  Thirst  would 
sometimes  be  almost  intolerable  to  labourers  in  the  field  under 
the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun  in  Palestine.  When  Ruth  felt 
the  heat  of  noon,  she  might  say,  as  one  of  her  descendants  did 
on  another  occasion,  ^O  that  one  would  give  me  to  drink  of 
the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem !'  But  her  wishes  are  an- 
ticipated. Her  considerate  friend  gives  her  a  general  invita- 
tion to  drink,  whenever  she  found  it  necessary,  of  the  water 
provided  for  his  own  servants ;  or,  if  they  had  any  thing  better 
than  water  to  quench  their  thirst,  she  was  welcome  to  a  share. 

Verse  10. — Then  she  fell  on  her  face,  and  bowed  herself  to  the 
ground,  and  said  unto  him;  Why  have  I  found  grace  in  thine 
eyes,  that  thou  shouldst  take  knowledge  of  me,  seeing  I  am  a 
stranger  f 

What  had  Boaz  done  for  Ruth  that  she  falls  down  on  her 


76  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

knees,  and  thanks  him  for  his  favours  in  language  expres- 
sive of  such  warm  gratitude?  He  had  assured  her  of  his 
protection.  He  had  invited  her  to  gather  the  gleanings  of 
his  corn,  and  to  drink  of  his  water.  What  would  she  have 
said  had  he  invited  her  to  partake,  as  he  afterwards  did,  of  all 
his  wealth?  And  what  thanks  do  we  give  to  Him  who  in- 
vites us  to  come  and  buy  wine  and  milk  from  him,  without 
money  and  without  price?  Boaz  made  Ruth  welcome  to  drink 
of  the  water  of  one  of  the  wells  of  Bethlehem.  Jesus  says, 
*  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  unto 
thee.  Give  me  to  drink,  thou  wouldst  ask,  and  he  would  give 
thee  living  water ;  the  water  of  which  when  a  man  drinks  he 
shall  thirst  no  more.' 

Ruth  thought  herself  greatly  honoured  by  the  attentions  of 
Boaz.  She  was  a  stranger  and  foreigner,  an  alien  to  the  comr 
mouwealth  of  Israel,  and  did  not  reckon  herself  entitled  to  any 
kindness  from  the  people  of  the  Lord.  Perhaps  she  did  not 
yet  know  how  kindly  the  laws  of  Israel  required  them  to  treat 
strangers.  The  children  of  Israel  had  themselves  been  stran- 
gers for  many  generations  in  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  were 
required  to  show  that  kindness  to  strangers  which  they  would 
have  gladly  received  from  the  people  amongst  whom  they  so- 
journed. Boaz,  above  all  other  Israelites  at  that  time,  might 
be  expected  to  treat  foreign  women  with  favour ;  for  his  own 
mother  had  been  not  only  a  stranger,  but  one  of  the  accursed 
nation  of  Canaan ;  and  yet  there  was  not  an  Israelitess  en- 
titled to  more  respect,  for  she  was  famous,  and  deserved  to  be 
famous  to  all  generations,  both  for  her  faith  and  her  good  works. 
Most  men  and  women  entertain  too  high  notions  of  them- 
selves, because  they  think  with  complacency  on  those  qualities 
that  seem  to  entitle  them  to  consideration,  but  overlook  those 
which  diminish  their  own  value.  Ruth  almost  forgot  her  own 
virtues.  She  thought  she  had  done  no  more  than  it  was  her 
duty  to  do,  if  she  did  so  much,  when  she  attended  Naomi  into 
the  land  of  Israel :  but  she  remembered  that  she  was  a  stranger; 
tliat  she  had  been  hitherto  a  worshiper  of  strange  gods,  and 
might  have  continued  so  till  the  end  of  her  life,  if  God  had  not 
sent  some  of  his  people  to  guide  her  feet  into  the  way  of  truth. 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OF   RUTH.  77 

Eemembering  what  she  had  been,  she  received  ordinary  fa- 
vours with  a  warm  sense  of  gratitude.  The  humble  are  al- 
ways disposed  to  be  thankful,  and  therefore  they  are  always 
happy.  When  men  are  swelled  with  such  a  sense  of  their  own 
merit  that  they  think  themselves  entitled  to  every  thing,  they 
will  never  be  pleased.  If  you  give  them  small  presents,  they 
wnll  think  you  defraud  them  of  their  due,  because  you  do  not 
give  them  rich  presents;  if  you  give  them  rich  presents,  they 
think  that  they  are  entitled  to  all  that  they  have  received,  and 
much  more.  But  you  can  scarcely  displease  the  humble 
man,  because  he  thinks  any  thing  better  than  he  deserves.  He 
enjoys  peace  in  his  own  bosom,  because  his  expectations  are 
seldom  disappointed.  He  acquires  the  good-will  of  all  around 
him,  because  he  is  thankful  for  the  smallest  favours,  and  not 
dissatisfied  when  he  meets  with  none. 

Verse  11. — And  Boaz  answered  and  said  unto  her,  It  hath 
fully  been  showed  me,  all  that  thou  hast  done  unto  thy  mother-in- 
laiD  since  the  death  of  thine  husband;  and  how  thou  hast  left  thy 
father  and  thy  mother,  and  the  land  of  thy  nativity,  and  art  come 
unto  a  people  which  thou  hnewest  not  heretofore, 

'  Let  another  praise  thee,  and  not  thyself  Euth  showed  no 
disposition  to  praise  herself  She  did  not  claim  a  right  to 
glean  from  what  she  had  done  for  Naomi,  but  wondered  that 
such  kindness  should  be  showed  by  Boaz  to  her  who  was  a 
stranger;  and  she  hears  the  voice  of  praise  from  the  mouth  of 
one  whose  commendations  were  a  very  great  honour.  No  say- 
ing was  oftener  in  the  mouth  of  Jesus  than  this,  ^He  that  ex- 
alteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself 
shall  be  exalted.' 

Nothing  can  be  meaner  than  flattery  addressed  either  to  the 
rich  or  poor,  but  it  may  frequently  be  proper  to  praise  thoso 
who  deserve  to  be  praised.  Our  Lord  praises  his  disciples, 
when  he  tells  them  that  they  were  the  men  who  had  continued 
with  him  in  his  temptations.  Paul  often  commends  the  Chris- 
tians to  whom  he  wrote  his  epistles,  although  he  never  failed 
to  remind  them  that  they  were  indebted  to  the  grace  of  God 
for  all  that  was  worthy  of  praise  in  their  conduct  or  temper. 
Boaz  commended  Euth,  not  to  inspire  her  with  vanity,  but  to 


78  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

animate  lier  resolution,  to  comfort  her  dejected  spirit,  and  to 
encourage  her  to  use  those  freedoms  which  he  wished  her  to 
use  with  himself,  and  with  other  Israelites. 

^It  hath  been  fully  made  known  to  me  what  thou  hast  done 
to  thy  mother-in-law/  Ruth  little  expected  that  her  behaviour 
would  be  reported  to  any  great  man  in  the  land  of  Israel.  She 
did  no  more  than  she  apprehended  to  be  her  duty  to  such  a 
kind  and  pious  mother-in-law.  If  her  behaviour  pleased  God, 
and  her  own  conscience,  and  Naomi,  she  was  well  satisfied, 
although  no  other  person  ever  heard  of  it.  As  some  men^s 
sins  are  open,  going  before-hand  unto  judgment,  so  are  the 
good  works  of  others.  ^Take  heed,'  says  our  Lord,  'of  the 
leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is  hypocrisy ;  for  there  is  noth- 
ing covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed,  nor  hid  that  shall  not 
be  known.'  Although  we  are  not  to  do  our  works  to  be  seen 
or  to  be  reported  by  men,  yet  we  ought  to  provide  things 
honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men  that  see,  or  that  may  hear  of, 
our  behaviour.  Our  works  will  all  be  known  at  the  last  day, 
and  more  of  them,  perhaps,  than  we  think,  before  the  last  day. 
Let  us  beware  of  any  thing  in  private,  that  would  dishonour 
our  name  and  our  profession  if  it  were  known  to  the  world. 
Ruth  found,  at  this  conference  with  Boaz,  the  truth  of  what 
one  of  her  descendants  teaches  us,  that  'a  good  name  is  better 
than  precious  ointment,  and  loving  favour  better  than  silver 
and  gold/ 

It  hath  been  fully  showed  me  all  that  thou  hast  done  unto  thy 
mother-in-law  since  the  death  of  thy  husband.  Many  who  are 
connected  by,  affinity,  think  that  no  more  duties  remain  to  be 
performed,  when  the  bond  of  connection  is  broken  by  the 
death  of  that  husband  or  wife  on  whom  the  relation  depended. 
Naomi  and  Ruth  were  of  a  different  spirit.  Naomi  never 
could  forget  Ruth's  kindness  to  her  son.  Ruth  testified  her 
regard  to  the  memory  of  her  deceased  husband,  by  her  atten- 
tions to  his  mother.  She  not  only  did  'good,  and  not  evil,'  to 
her  husband,  'all  the  days  of  his  life,'  but  she  did  all  the  good 
she  could  to  him  when  he  was  dead,  by  performing  those  ser- 
vices to  his  mother  which  he  would  gladly  have  performed,  if 
he  had  been  still  alive.     This  part  of  her  behaviour  endeared 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OF  RUTH.  79 

lier  to  Boaz.  He  was  charmed  with  the  amiabk  manners  of 
liuth,  and  thought  himself  highly  indebted  to  her  for  her  good- 
ness to  the  mother  of  his  friend  Mahlon.  The  apostle  John 
testified  his  affection  to  his  departed  Lord,  by  taking  his  mother 
to  his  own  house,  and  treating  her  as  a  mother.  There  are 
kindnesses  due  to  the  dead  as  well  as  to  the  living;  and  in 
these,  a  generous  spirit  will  be  careful  not  to  fail. 

Verse  12. — The  Lord  recompense  thy  work,  and  a  full  reicard 
be  given  thee  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  under  whose  wings  thou 
art  come  to  trust ! 

Ruth's  kind  and  good  behaviour  to  her  mother-in-law  de- 
served much  praise,  but  there  was  another  part  of  her  be- 
haviour entitled  to  still  higher  commendation.  She  came  to 
trust  under  the  wings  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  Her  hu- 
manity was  consecrated  by  piety;  her  kindness  to  her  friends 
was  sanctified  by  her  faith  in  God.  Those  labours  of  love  are 
truly  acceptable  to  God,  which  proceed  from  a  regard  to  his 
own  name;  Heb.  vi.  10. 

The  living  God  was  exhibited  to  the  faith  of  his  ancient 
people,  as  the  God  who  dwelt  between  the  cherubim  that  spread 
their  wings  over  the  mercy-seat,  the  throne  of  his  grace.  It 
was  perhaps  in  allusion  to  this  symbol  of  God's  residence 
amongst  his  people,  that  those  who  sought  protection  from 
him  were  said  to  trust  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings.  ^He 
that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  shall  abide 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  His  feathers  shall  cover 
thee;  under  his  wings  shalt  thou  trust;  his  faithfulness  shall 
be  thy  shield  and  buckler.' 

By  a  figure  less  elevated,  but  not  less  significant  and  con- 
solatory, our  Lord  teaches  us  the  happiness  of  them  that  trust 
in  Him,  and  the  riches  of  his  own  grace  and  condescension. 
'  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thee,  as  a  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  win^s!' 

Ruth  came  to  trust  under  the  wings  of  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel.  She  had  heard  of  him  in  her  own  country,  and  left  it 
to  dwell  in  another  where  he  was  well  known,  and  where  he 
gave  his  people  signal  proofs  of  his  protection.  The  name  of 
the  Lord  was  so  dear  to  her,  that  she  left  her  kindred,  and  her 


80  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

father's  hou^,  to  enjoy  a  place  amongst  his  people.  How  in- 
excusable are  we,  if  we  do  not  make  the  Lord  oar  refuge,  when 
we  were  born  in  a  land  blessed  with  the  knowledge  of  him, 
baptised  in  his  name,  and  trained  up  to  know  and  serve  him! 
If  a  Moabitess  came  to  trust  under  the  wings  of  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  how  shameful  was  it  in  Israelites  not  to  know  and 
trust  the  God  by  whose  name  they  were  called  !  And  '  is  he 
the  God  of  the  Jews  only?  is  he  not  the  God  of  the  Gentiles 
also,'  who  justifies  the  uncircumcision  through  the  same  faith 
in  Christ  by  which  he  justified  the  circumcision? 

The  Lord  recompense  thy  ivork,  and  a  JuU  reward  be  given 
thee  of  the  Lord  God  of  Lsrael!  The  Lord  God  of  Israel  is  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  he  is  well 
pleased.  Through  him  he  accepts  our  persons ;  through  him 
he  accepts  our  works,  and  records  them  with  testimonies  of 
his  favour  worthy  of  his  rich  grace.  Our  best  works  have  no 
merit  in  them.  We  are  but  unprofitable  servants  when  we 
have  done  all  that  is  commanded  us  ;  but  we  serve  a  liberal 
Master,  who  takes  pleasure  in  uprightness,  and  beholds  our 
meanest  endeavours  to  serve  him  with  a  pleasant  countenance. 

Those  acts  of  kindness  which  we  perform  to  men  with  no 
higher  views  than  their  or  our  own  advantage,  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted of  God  as  services  to  himself.  When  no  regard  is  en- 
tertained for  His  will  and  his  glory,  there  is  an  essential  defect 
in  our  performances.  If  men  are  the  highest  object  of  our 
regard  in  the  good  things  we  do,  from  men  let  us  expect  our 
reward ;  but  God  is  not  unrighteous,  to  forget  our  works  and 
labours  of  love  done  for  the  name  of  Christ.  He  will  reward 
them  above  what  we  can  ask  or  think. 

Boaz  prays  to  God  for  the  gracious  reward  of  her  works  of 
love,  and  by  this  prayer  encourages  her  to  persevere  in  that 
confidence  which  was  to  be  crowned  with  a  full  recompense. 
^Cast  not  away  your  confidence,'  says  Paul,  Svhich  hath  great 
recompense  of  reward.'  To  have  respect  to  the  recompense  of 
reward,  was  not  unworthy  of  the  faith  of  Moses,  or  even  of 
the  faith  of  Christ  himself,  Svho,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  be- 
fore him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame.' 

'It  is  our  desire/,  says  the  apostle,  Hhat  whether  present  or 


CHAP.  II.  5-14.  OF   RUTH.  81 

absent,  we  may  be  accepted  of  him.'  And  we  desire  not  only 
that  our  own  works,  but  that  the  good  works  of  our  friends 
and  brethren,  may  be  rewarded.  Boaz  intended  to  reward 
the  work  of  Ruth  by  his  own  generous  treatment  of  her,  but 
great  as  his  power  was,  her  good  works  went  beyond  it.  The 
rewards  that  the  richest  and  greatest  men  can  confer  for  ser- 
vices done  to  themselves  or  to  their  friends,  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  gracious  rewards  bestowed  by  God  on  the  mean- 
est of  his  servants,  for  the  meanest  service.  '  Whosoever,'  says 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ^bestows  but  a  cup  of  water  on  a  dis- 
ciple in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward.' 

Verse  13. — Then  she  said.  Let  me  find  favour  in  thy  sight,  my 
lord;  for  that  thou  hast  comforted  me,  and  for  that  thow  hast 
spoken  friendly  unto  thine  handmaid,  though  I  be  not  like  unto 
one  of  thine  handmaidens, 

Ruth  was  so  far  from  thinking  herself  entitled  to  any  re- 
compense from  God,  that  she  thought  it  an  act  of  unmerited 
goodness  in  Boaz  to  take  any  notice  of  her.  The  Lord  hath 
respect  to  the  lowly,  and  he  usually  gives  them  favour  in  the 
sight  of  men  also.  Ruth  did  not  reckon  herself  like  one  of  the 
handmaidens  of  Boaz,  and  Boaz  thought  her  worthy  of  his 
bed.  Happy  are  they  who  are  disposed  to  think  their  neigh- 
bours better  than  themselves.  They  are  free  from  those  stings 
of  discontent  and  envy  which  torture  the  hearts  of  the  vain 
and  proud.  They  preserve  themselves  from  those  variances 
and  strifes  which  are  the  bane  of  social  life.  They  endear  them- 
selves to  those  with  whom  they  are  connected  in  society.  They 
procure  many  favours  and  kindnesses  which  are  doubly  pleas- 
ant to  them,  because  they  did  not  think  themselves  entitled  to 
them.  ^  By  humility,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  are  riches,  and 
honour,  and  life.' 

^Let  me  find  grace  in  thy  sight,  my  lord;  for  that  thou 
hast  comforted  me,  and  hast  spoken  friendly  unto  thine  hand- 
maid.' Pleasant  words  are  like  an  honey-comb,  sweet  to  the 
soul.  Those  words  which  at  once  indicate  friendship  and 
nourish  piety,  are  doubly  pleasant.  Boaz  had  not  only  ex- 
pressed his  affection  and  esteem  to  Ruth,  but  raised  her  views 
to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  from  whom  he  encouraged  her  to 
6 


82  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VII. 

expect  her  reward.  His  words  were  no  less  valued  by  her 
than  his  gifts.  Words  are  cheap  to  ourselves,  and  they  may 
be  very  precious  to  those  to  whom  they  are  addressed,  es- 
pecially to  those  who  need  our  sympathy.  Job,  by  his  words, 
instructed  many,  and  strengthened  the  weak  hands.  Let  us 
follow  his  example ;  but  remember  that  we  ought  to  do  it,  not 
only  in  the  words  of  our  mouth,  but  in  the  temper  of  our  minds 
and  in  the  works  of  our  hands.  We  must  ^  love,  not  in  word 
and  in  tongue  only,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.'  Such  was  the 
love  of  Boaz  to  Kuth.  Such  is  the  love  of  all  the  followers 
of  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us. 

Verse  14. — And  Boaz  said  unto  her,  At  meal-time  come  thou 
hith^j  and  eat  of  the  bread,  and  dip  thy  morsel  in  the  vinegar. 
And  she  sat  beside  the  reapers;  and  he  reached  her  parched  corn, 
and  she  did  eat,  and  was  sufficed,  and  left. 

All  that  Ruth  expected  or  requested,  was  leave  to  glean ; 
but  she  was  invited,  when  she  was  labouring  for  herself,  to  eat 
of  the  master's  bread,  and  to  dip  her  morsel  in  the  vinegar 
provided  for  the  reapers.  In  the  house  of  Boaz,  there  was 
bread  enough,  and  to  spare.  His  reapers  were  not  so  stinted 
in  their  provision,  as  to  have  nothing  to  afford  to  an  unex- 
pected visitant.  Boaz  was  none  of  those  men  who  say,  ^  Shall  I 
take  my  bread  and  my  water,  which  I  have  provided  for  my 
shearers,'  or  my  bread  and  vinegar  which  I  have  provided  for 
my  reapers,  and  give  them  to  a  stranger?  He  had  a  large 
estate,  and  a  large  heart.  He  truly  enjoyed  the  liberalities  of 
Providence,  because  he  took  pleasure  in  distributing  what  God 
had  given  him. 

Boaz  was  not  ashamed  to  eat  his  morsel  with  his  reapers. 
He  made  them  happy  in  his  company,  and  himself  happy,  by 
diffusing  cheerfulness  around  him.  We  must  not  judge  of 
Boaz  by  those  laws  and  customs  of  society,  which  regulate  the 
behaviour  of  such  as  do  not  wish  to  appear  singular  amongst 
ourselves. 

He  gave  to  Ruth  of  the  parched  corn  with  his  own  hands, 
and  she  did  eat  and  was  sufficed.  Ruth  wondered  at  his  good- 
ness to  her  who  was  a  stranger,  and  not  like  one  of  his  own 
handmaidens;  but  she  was  not  happier  in  receiving  than  Boaz 


CHAP.  IT.  5-14.  OF   RUTH.  83 

in  giving,  since  our  Lord  spake  truth  when  he  said,  ^It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.' 

Let  us  do  good  to  all  men,  especially  to  them  that  are  of  the 
household  of  faith,  and  most  of  all  to  those  of  the  household  of 
faith  who  stand  in  greatest  need  of  our  kindness,  to  whom  we 
are  bound  by  particular  connections  to  show  our  friendship, 
and  to  those  who  are  most  disposed  to  be  thankful  to  God  and 
man  for  the  favours  they  receive.  At  the  day  of  judgment  we 
will  find,  that  every  office  of  love  performed  to  the  meanest  of 
the  followers  of  Christ,  has  been  performed  to  himself. 


84  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 


LECTURE    VIII. 


BOAZ'  DIRECTIONS  TO    HIS   REAPERS  TO  TREAT    RUTH   KINDLY — HER 
SUCCESS  IN  GLEANING,  &C. 

CHAPTER  II.  15 23. 

Verse  15. — A7id  ivhen  she  teas  risen  up  to  glean,  Boaz  com- 
manded his  young  men,  saying,  Let  her  glean,  even  among  the 
sheaves,  and  reproach  her  not, 

'-  Ix  the  sweat  of  thy  face/  said  God  to  fallen  man,  ^  thou 
shalt  eat  bread.^  For  our  sins  we  must  toil ;  but,  through  the 
mercy  of  God,  our  toil  is  sweetened  by  intervals  of  rest,  and 
of  refreshment  from  food  and  sleep.  Ruth  eats  her  meal,  and 
then  rises  to  glean  till  the  evening,  when  she  goes  home  to 
enjoy  the  rest  and  sleep  of  the  night,  made  doubly  pleasant  to 
her  by  the  labours  of  the  day.  Let  not  labourers  complain; 
but  let  them  confess,  that  the  toils  they  endure  are  too  well  de- 
served ;  and  let  them  bless  God  that  their  days  do  not  pass  on 
in  an  uninterrupted  labour. 

'She  rose  up  to  glean.'  In  the  morning  she  came  with, 
perhaps,  an  anxious  mind  to  the  field,  uncertain  what  recep- 
tion she  might  meet  with,  either  from  the  master  of  the  field, 
or  from  his  servants.  She  rose  to  her  new  labours  with  plea- 
sure, when  she  found  herself  not  only  allowed  to  glean,  but 
commended  for  her  virtuous  conduct,  and  recommended  to  the 
mercy  of  the  God  whom  she  came  to  serve,  by  the  prayers  of 
such  a  venerable  man  as  Boaz.  Let  us  hold  the  path  of  duty, 
whatever  it  is.  If  it  is  attended  with  toils  and  anxieties,  com- 
forts will  spring  up  when  we  are  not  expecting  them,  to  solace 
our  labors. 

Boaz  did  every  thing  that  he  promised  to  Huth,  and  more 
than  he  promised.     He  gave  a  charge  to  his  young  men  to 


CHAP.  II.  15-23.  OF  RUTH.  85 

suffer  her  to  glean  among  the  sheaves,  and  forbade  them  to 
reproach  her  for  her  country,  her  poverty,  her  mean  occupa- 
tion; or  to  insinuate  any  suspicions  of  her  honesty,  whilst  she 
was  gleaning  among  the  sheaves. 

The  permission  of  gleaning  among  the  sheaves  would  not 
have  been  granted  to  Ruth,  if  her  character  had  not  raised  her 
above  suspicion.  Are  you  poor?  take  care  to  avoid  every  ap- 
pearance of  dishonesty.  A  good  character  is  the  estate  of  the 
poor.  A  reputation  for  honesty  will  procure  you  employment 
and  bread.  Are  you  rich  ?  do  not  causelessly  suspect  the  poor, 
that  you  may  not  deprive  them  of  that  which  is  no  less  valua- 
ble to  them  than  to  yourselves — a  good  name.  It  is  of  more 
importance  to  them  than  to  you,  because  their  subsistence  de- 
pends upon  it.  Why  should  you  deprive  your  indigent  brother 
of  his  only  resource  ? 

Reproach  her  not,  said  Boaz  to  his  servants.  Ill-taught  ser- 
vants are  too  often  disposed  to  sport  with  the  feelings  or  the 
character  of  strangers,  or  of  their  own  indigent  countrymen. 
Why  should  they  who  are  themselves  in  a  dependent  condition, 
add  to  the  distress  of  those  who  are  still  lower  in  condition 
than  themselves?  It  afPords  them  amusement,  perhaps,  to 
make  those  uneasy  who  cannot  avenge  themselves;  but  would 
it  not  give  them  more  pleasure  to  alleviate  distress  by  words 
of  kindness,  than  to  aggravate  it  by  scorn  and  petulance?  Is 
it  more  pleasant  to  us  to  make  our  poor  neighbours  unhappy, 
than  to  gladden  their  hearts?  How  then  dwelleth  the  love  of 
God  in  us? 

Verse  16. — And  let  fall  also  some  of  the  handfuls  of  purpose 
for  her,  and  leave  them,  that  she  may  glean  them,  and  rebuke  her 
not. 

Why  did  not  the  good  man  rather  make  her  a  present  at  once 
out  of  his  floor  and  wine-press,  than  order  handfuls  of  barley 
to  be  dropt  for  her  gleaning?  He  delighted  to  behold  her 
industry,  and  wished  to  encourage  it.  Charity,  wisely  directed, 
will  not  tempt  the  poor  to  be  idle.  Habitual  idleness  is  not 
consistent  either  with  virtue  or  happiness. 

^  Leave  handfuls  on  purpose  for  her.'  The  servants  of  Boaz 
could  not  have  left  handfuls  to  be  gleaned  by  the  poorest  per- 


S(j  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 

son  in  the  country,  without  dishonesty,  unless  their  master  had 
commanded  them.  When  they  received  commandment,  it 
would  have  been  dishonest  not  to  have  done  it.  The  Lord, 
who  hates  robbery  for  burnt-offering,  will  not  allow  servants 
in  great  houses  to  give  away  what  is  not  theirs  to  the  poor. 
They  must  have  the  permission  of  their  masters  or  mistresses 
to  do  good  to  the  poor,  unless  they  do  it  at  their  own  expense; 
and,  having  received  this  permission,  it  would  be  injurious 
both  to  the  poor  and  to  their  masters,  to  withhold  what  is 
allotted  to  those  who  need. 

And  rebuke  her  not.  Boaz  was  very  careful  to  prevent  any 
insult  from  being:  oflFered  to  the  virtuous  strang-er.  He  no 
doubt  knew,  that  masters  were  in  some  degree  accountable  for 
the  conduct  of  their  servants,  and  that  they  shared  in  the  guilt 
of  those  faults  which  they  did  not  care  to  prevent  or  to  cor- 
rect. 

Rebuke  her  not,  as  if  she  used  too  much  freedom.  Wound 
not  her  feelings,  by  reproaches  of  that  poverty  which  I  wish 
to  relieve.  God  gives  liberally,  and  upbraids  not.  Let  us  be 
followers  of  him  as  dear  children. 

Verse  17. — So  she  gleaned  in  the  field  until  even,  and  beat  out 
that  she  had  gleaned;  and  it  was  about  an  ephah  of  barley. 

^Man  goeth  forth  to  his  labour,  until  the  evening.'  The 
day  is  the  season  of  labour,  and  the  night  of  repose  for  our 
race ;  except  that  part  of  mankind  who  clioose  rather  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  beasts  of  prey,  whose  season  of  action  and 
enjoyment  is  the  night,  because  their  works  must  be  in  the 
dark. 

When  you  are  fatigued  with  the  labours  of  the  day,  con- 
sider that  the  night  is  not  far  distant,  when  you  may  hope  to 
enjoy  that  delicious  sleep,  which  is  almost  a  recompense  for 
your  toils.  Idle  men,  though  they  feed  upon  dainties,  toss 
upon  their  beds  from  night  till  morning;  but  ^the  sleep  of  the 
labouring  man  is  sweet,  whether  he  eat  little  or  much.'  Ruth, 
no  doubt,  longed  to  see  Naomi  after  her  conversation  with 
Boaz,  that  she  might  gladden  the  heart  of  her  beloved  mother, 
and  pour  her  own  grateful  sensations  into  her  bosom.  But 
there  is  a  time  for  going  forth  to  labour,  and  a  time  for  re- 


CHAP.  II.  15-23.  OF   RUTH.  37 

turning  from  labour;  and  the  wise  will  endeavour  to  do  every 
thing  in  its  proper  season.  Their  reason,  and  not  the  impulse 
of  the  moment,  will  regulate  their  hours. 

an  the  evening,  she  beat  out  that  she  had  gleaned,  and  it 
was  about  an  ephah  of  barley;'  about  a  firlot  of  our  measure.* 
The  Lord  blessed  her  industry,  by  disposing  Boaz  to  show 
kindness  to  her.  Labourers  are  not  ordinarily  to  expect  such 
uncommon  interpositions  of  Providence  in  their  favour;  but 
when  they  are  able,  by  their  industry,  to  procure  the  neces- 
saries, and  a  few  of  the  comforts  of  life  for  themselves,  and  for 
their  beloved  relations,  it  will  be  owing  to  their  own  thank- 
less dispositions  if  they  are  not  happy.  If  riches  were  neces- 
sary to  happiness,  the  Almighty  must  have  doomed  to  misery 
the  greatest  part  of  mankind.  But  we  are  the  makers  of  our 
own  misery,  when  we  prescribe  to  the  Most  High  what  he  shall 
do  for  us. 

Verse  18. — And  she  took  it  up,  and  went  into  the  city;  and 
her  mother-in-law  saw  what  she  had  gleaned :  and  she  brought 
forth,  and  gave  to  her  that  she  had  reserved  after  she  was  sufficed. 

It  is  no  less  necessary  to  be  careful  of  the  fruit  of  our  la- 
bours, than  to  labour  with  diligence.  Christ  himself,  who 
could  multiply  bread  at  his  pleasure,  commanded  the  frag- 
ments of  the  barley  loaves  and  fishes  to  be  gathered  up,  that 
nothing  might  be  lost,  ^n  all  labour  there  is  profit,'  says  the 
wise  man ;  yet  there  are  some  that '  labour  for  the  wind.'  They 
lose  what  they  have  wrought,  because  they  suffer  it,  through 
their  carelessness,  to  slip  through  their  fingers.  This  folly, 
however,  is  much  less  frequent  in  things  relating  to  the  body, 
than  in  those  w^hich  relate  to  the  soul.  There  is  a  greater 
number  of  persons  who  deserve  reprehension  for  immoderate 
solicitude  to  secure  their  property,  than  of  that  slothful  gen- 
eration who  Svill  not  be  at  the  trouble  of  roasting  what  they 
have  taken  in  hunting,'  or  of  carrying  home  what  they  have 
reaped  in  the  fields.  Yet  some  need  admonition  to  manage 
their  worldly  affairs  with  discretion;  but  it  is  far  more  need- 
ful to  be  careful  that  we  Mose  none  of  those  things  which  we 

*An  ephah  contained  three  pecks  and  three  ^fints.—  Calinet 


88  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 

have  wrought^  in  the  service  of  God,  for  the  benefit  of  our 
souls,  ^but  that  we  receive  a  full  reward/ 

Her  mother-in-law  saic,  and  saw  with  joy,  what  she  had  gleaned. 
Doubtless,  it  was  a  feast  to  the  heart  of  Ruth  to  observe  the 
pleasure  which  brightened  Naomi's  countenance,  when  she  saw 
how  God  had  blessed  her  industry.  Young  persons !  be  in- 
dustrious, frugal,  virtuous,  if  you  desire  to  give  pleasure  to 
the  father  that  begat  you,  and  to  her  that  bare  you.  In  their 
declining  years  they  need  such  comfort.  If  you  withhold  it, 
the  time  will  come  when  the  pain  which  you  gave  them  w^ll 
be  doubled  to  yourselves. 

And  she  brought  forth,  and  gave  to  her  that  she  had  reserved 
after  she  loas  sufficed.  When  Boaz  gave  her  a  liberal  portion 
of  the  food  prepared  for  himself  and  his  reapers,  it  was  not 
expected  that  what  she  left  should  be  returned,  but  it  was  to 
be  carried  home  for  future  use;  and  now  she  brought  it  forth 
for  the  use  of  Naomi,  between  whom  and  Ruth  every  thing 
w^as  common.  The  poor  stranger  had  now,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  and  the  kindness  of  Boaz,  bread  enough  and  to  spare. 
Happy  changes  can  soon  be  effected  by  the  good  providence 
of  God,  in  that  condition  which  appeared  forlorn.  *  The  Lord 
giveth  food  to  the  hungry,'  and  he  gives  it  in  such  quantities, 
and  of  such  a  kind,  and  in  such  ways  as  he  pleases.  ^  Those 
w^ho  trust  in  Him,  and  do  good,  shall  dwell  in  the  land,  and 
verily  they  shall  be  fed.' 

Verse  19. — And  her  mother-in-law  said  unto  her.  Where  hast 
thou  gleaned  today?  and  ichere  wroughtest  thou?  blessed  be  he 
that  did  take  knowledge  of  thee!  And  she  showed  her  mother-in- 
laio  with  whom  she  had  wrought,  and  said,  The  man^s  name  with 
whom  I  wrought  to-day  is  Boaz. 

The  friendly  converse  of  those  members  of  a  family,  whose 
hearts  are  knit  together  in  love,  affords  a  pleasure  which 
sweetens  a  dinner  of  green  herbs,  and  renders  it  more  delicious 
to  the  taste,  than  ^a  stalled  ox,  where  love  is  wanting.'  Naomi 
asks  of  Ruth  where  she  had  WTOught,  that  she  might  have  the 
pleasure  of  knowing  who  the  friendly  man  was  that  had  taken 
knowledge  of  her  beloved  daughter.  Ruth  had  no  reason  to 
conceal  that  kindness  which  had  been  showed  her  beyond  her 
expectation.     They  enjoyed  the  feast  of  friendship,  and  the 


CHAP.  II.  15-23.  OF   RUTH.  89 

flow  of  soul,  with  a  keener  relish  than  the  gayest  and  wealthi- 
est domestic  circle  in  Bethlehem. 

Blessed  he  he  that  did  take  knowledge  of  thee!  Naomi  desired 
to  know  where  Euth  had  wrought,  that  she  might  know  her 
benefactor,  and  make  such  recompeases  to  him  as  were  in  her 
power,  by  prayer  to  God  on  his  behalf.  Before  she  knows  his 
name,  she  prays  for  blessings  to  him.  Her  heart  overflowed 
with  gratitude,  and  out  of  the  abundance  of  her  heart  her 
mouth  spake.  This  is,  one  reason  why  w^e  ought  to  do  good  to 
those  especially,  who  are  of  the  household  of  faith.  They  are 
all  praying  persons,  and  their  prayers  are  heard  by  the  God 
who  loves  them.  ^He  is  a  prophet,'  said  God  to  Abimelech, 
concerning  Abraham,  ^he  is  a  prophet,  and  he  shall  pray  for 
thee.'  Abimelech  thought  his  presents  well  bestowed  upon  a 
man  who  could  pray  for  him  Avith  acceptance.  But,  through 
the  name  of  Christ,  all  believers,  though  they  are  not  prophets, 
have  confidence  towards  God ;  '  for  whatsoever,'  says  our  Re- 
deemer, ^ye  ask  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it  for  you.' 

Naomi  was  told  that  the  man's  name  was  Boaz,  and  im- 
mediately called  to  mind  what  kindnesses  her  family  had  re- 
ceived from  him  in  times  past: 

Verse  20. — And  Naomi  said  unto  her  daughter-in-law,  Blessed 
be  he  of  the  Lord!  who  hath  not  left  off  his  kindness  to  the  living 
and  to  the  dead.  And  Naomi  said  unto  her,  The  man  is  near  of 
kin  unto  us,  one  of  our  next  kinsmen. 

Blessed  be  he  of  the  Lord!  Naomi  had  already  prayed  for  a 
blessing  upon  him,  without  knowing  who  he  was ;  and  she 
l^rays  again  for  a  blessing  to  him  from  the  Lord,  when  his 
name  was  mentioned.  It  put  her  in  mind  of  former  favours, 
which  she  had  not  forgotten,  although  her  distresses,  engrossing 
her  mind,  had  hindered  her  from  thinking  of  them.  A  grate- 
ful heart  will  never  forget  kindnesses  received  from  men;  far 
less  will  a  truly  thankful  soul  forget  the  former  loving-kind- 
nesses of  the  Lord.  *  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul;  forget  not 
any  of  his  benefits!' 

He  hath  not  left  off  his  kindness  to  the  living  and  to  the  dead. 
He  had  been  a  steady  friend  to  Elimelech  and  Mahlon,  and 
he  still  continued  a  firm  friend  to  Elimelech's  widow,  to  the 


90  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 

mother  and  relict  of  Mahlon.  Nothing  is  more  common  in 
the  world  than  fickleness  in  friendship;  but  that  man  only 
deserves  the  name  of  a  friend,  who  loveth  at  all  times,  in  ad- 
versity as  well  as  in  prosj^erity,  in  death  as  well  as  in  life.  We 
sin  against  God,  as  well  as  against  men,  when  we  causelessly 
forsake  our  own  or  our  fathcr^s  friend.  All  our  professions  and 
promises  are  marked  in  His  book. 

One  great  cause  of  our  grief  for  the  death  of  our  friends  is, 
that  they  are  removed  beyond  the  reach  of  our  kindness.  But 
they  are  not  wholly  incapable  of  receiving  testimonies  of  our 
friendship,  if  they  have  left  beloved  relations  behind  them,  to 
whom  we  can  show  our  regard.  David  could  recompense 
Jonathan's  kindness  to  himself,  when  his  generous  friend  was 
in  heaven  with  the  angels  of  God.  Although  our  Lord  left 
our  world  almost  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  we  can  still 
testify  our  love  to  Him  by  our  kindness  to  his  brethren  and 
sisters  on  earth. 

^Blessed  be  he  of  the  Lord ;  for  he  hath  not  left  off  his  kind- 
ness to  the  living  and  to  the  dead.'  Naomi  could  not  reward 
Boaz,  but  she  knew  who  could  and  would  reward  every  act  of 
kindness  done  to  her.  Her  prayers  to  God  for  Boaz  were 
worth  more  than  all  that  it  was  either  in  his  heart  or  in  his 
power  to  do  for  her. 

And  Naomi  said,  The  man  is  near  of  kin  unto  us,  07ie  of  our 
next  kinsmen.  The  relation  in  which  Boaz  stood  to  Mahlon  was 
probably  one  of  the  reasons  that  induced  him  to  be  so  kind  to 
E-uth.  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  and 
therefore  we  ought  to  look  upon  all  human  creatures  as  our 
brethren  and  sisters,  the  children  of  the  same  common  pro- 
genitors, by  the  ordination  of  their  common  Creator.  But 
those  who  are  related  to  us  by  immediate  parents,  or  by  pro- 
genitors not  far  removed  from  us,  have  a  special  claim  to  our 
kindness.     ^A  brother  is  born  for  adversity.' 

Yet  the  poor  ought  not  to  make  themselves  burdensome  or 
troublesome  to  their  prosperous  relations.  Naomi  sought 
nothing  from  Boaz,  and,  till  this  time,  does  not  seem  to  have 
expected  new  favours  from  him.  He  had  formerly  been  kind, 
and  she  did  not  wish  to  tax  his  goodness  by  applications  for 


CHAP.  II.  15-23.  OF   RUTH.  91 

new  favours.  God  Is  never  weary  of  conferring  his  blessings. 
Those  petitioners  are  most  welcome  to  him  that  come  most 
frequently,  and  ask  most  importunately.  But  the  richest  of 
men  may  soon  be  impoverished,  and  the  most  bountiful  may 
soon  be  wearied,  by  giving. 

Paul  thanked  God  in  the  behalf  of  the  Philippian  Chris- 
tians, that  their  care  of  him  had  flourished  afresh.  Naomi 
considers  it  as  a  token  for  good,  that  the  care  of  Boaz  for  her 
family  was  now  again  flourishing  and  bringing  forth  fruit. 
With  joy  she  informs  Ruth,  that  the  man  whose  kindness  so 
deeply  affected  her,  was  a  near  relation.  What  might  they 
not  expect  from  a  near  relation  so  rich  and  so  kind?  AVhat 
may  we  not  expect  from  him  who,  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
made  himself  our  near  kinsman,  that  he  might  redeem  us  to 
God? 

Verse  21. — And  ButJij  the  Moabitess^  saidj  He  said,  unto  me 
also.  Thou  shall  keep  fast  by  my  young  men,  until  they  have  en- 
ded all  my  harvest. 

Grateful  souls  take  pleasure  in  hearing  and  in  speaking  of 
their  benefactors,  and  of  the  favours  which  have  been  done  or 
promised  them.  How  constantly  ought  we  to  remember,  and 
how  ready  should  we  be  to  speak  of,  the  mercies  of  God!  He 
hath  done  great  things  for  us,  and  giveth  us  every  encourage- 
ment to  hope  that  he  will  still  grant  us  all  that  is  good  for  us. 

Verse  22. — And  Naomi  said  unto  Ruth,  her  daughter-in-law, 
It  is  good,  my  daughter,  that  thou  go  out  with  his  maidens,  that 
they  meet  thee  not  in  any  other  field. 

Naomi  asked  Ruth  where  she  had  been,  and  desired  par- 
ticular information  of  the  treatment  she  had  met  with,  that 
she  might  give  her  such  advice  as  might  be  useful  for  the 
direction  of  her  future  conduct.  Old  persons  may  be  expected 
to  have  collected,  by  reflection  and  experience,  more  wisdom 
than  the  young,  and  should  be  ready  to  communicate  instruc- 
tion to  those  that  need  it.  An  ostentatious  display  of  their  ac- 
quirements, where  it  can  be  of  no  use,  or  where  there  is  no 
disposition  to  profit  by  them,  would  only  expose  them  to  con- 
tempt. But  they  hide  their  talents  in  a  napkin  if  they  do  not 
make  those  wiser  by  what  they  know,  who  are  dis^^osed  to 


92  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 

learn,  and  those  especially  whom  divine  Providence  hath  placed 
under  their  care.  Young  persons,  on  their  side,  should  be  ever 
ready  to  listen  to  the  instructions  of  the  aged,  and  especially 
of  aged  parents,  or  relations  that  stand  in  the  place  of  parents. 
Ruth  profited  much  by  the  instructions  and  advices  of  Naomi; 
and  it  was  one  of  the  great  comforts  of  Naomi's  declining  years, 
that  she  could  be  useful  to  Ruth,  by  giving  her  the  counsels 
of  experience.  Let  the  young  have  their  hands  prepared  for 
the  service  of  the  old;  and  the  old  may  recompense  them  abun- 
dantly by  the  words  of  their  mouths.  Happy  would  it  have 
been  for  Rehoboam,  and  for  all  his  people,  had  he  known  what 
respect  is  due  to  the  wise  counsels  of  the  aged.  What  num- 
bers of  young  persons  take  rash  steps  in  the  journey  of  life, 
which  cannot  be  retraced,  because  they  rather  choose  to  follow 
the  impulse  of  their  own  passions,  than  to  ask  and  follow  the 
advices  of  those  who  brought  them  into  the  world! 

It  is  good,  my  daughter,  that  thou  go  out  with  his  maidens. 
Ruth  had  said  that  Boaz  invited  her  to  keep  fast  by  his  young 
men.  Naomi  perhaps  meant  to  insinuate  in  this  advice,  that, 
while  she  accepted  the  invitation,  she  ought  to  consider  the 
maidens  as  her  best  companions.  She  was  not  bound  to  avoid 
all  intercourse  with  the  young  men.  Boaz  had  taken  care  that 
none  of  them  should  behave  rudely  to  her;  but  her  chosen 
companions  were  to  be  of  her  own  sex.  Ruth  needed  little 
admonition  on  this  subject.  Boaz  observes,  to  her  praise,  that 
she  had  not  followed  young  men,  whether  poor  or  rich. 

'It  is  good  that  thou  go  forth  with  his  maidens,'  since  he 
invites  thee  to  glean  in  his  fields.  Although  Naomi  would  not 
be  troublesome  to  her  relations,  nor  solicit  favours  from  them 
when  necessity  did  not  compel  her,  she  was  not  so  high-minded 
as  to  reject  a  favour  that  was  offered.  Poor  persons,  who  have 
seen  better  days,  are  sometimes  too  nice  and  scrupulous  in  re- 
ceiving obligations.  It  is  good  to  be  as  independent  in  the 
world  as  our  circumstances  will  allow  ;  but  to  be  absolutely 
independent  is  impossible:  and  to  have  a  spirit  above  the  ac- 
ceptance of  favours,  when  our  circumstances  render  the  accept- 
tance  of  them  needful,  Is  a  proud  resistance  of  our  spirits  to 
that  Providence  which  manages  our  concerns,  and  which  man- 


CHAP.  II.  15-23.  OF  RUTH.  93 

ages  them  with  wisdom  and  kindness  when  it  lays  our  pride 
in  the  dust. 

That  they  meet  thee  not  in  any  other  field.  If  they  had  met 
Euth  in  any  other  field,  their  master  might  have  been  oifended 
to  find  that  his  bounty  was  undervalued,  or  his  sincerity  dis- 
trusted, or  that  his  kinswoman  chose  rather  to  receive  obliga- 
tions from  another  than  from  himself.  A  generous  man  takes 
pleasure  in  being  trusted.  Nothing  will  more  displease  him 
than  want  of  confidence  in  his  kindness  and  professions. 

If  we  ought  to  express  our  gratitude  to  earthly  benefactors, 
by  showing  a  readiness  to  be  obliged  to  them,  and  a  firm  con- 
fidence in  their  favour,  how  readily  ought  we  to  accept  of  the 
precious  gifts  of  God,  and  how  ungrateful  is  it  to  act  as  if  His 
gracious  professions  and  promises  were  unworthy  of  our  trust! 
Is  not  the  saying,  that  ^ Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world,  a 
faithful  saying,  and  w^orthy  of  all  acceptation?'  Why  then 
does  any  of  us  refuse  with  thankfulness  to  receive  his  un- 
speakable gift?  Or  why  should  we  be  found  vainly  searching 
amongst  creatures  for  what  is  to  be  found  only  in  God? 

Verse  23. — So  she  Jcept  fast  by  the  maidens  of  Boaz,  to  glean 
unto  the  end  of  barley  harvest  and  ofivheat  harvest,  and  dwelt  with 
her  mother-in-law. 

Her  mother-in-law's  word  was  a  law  to  her.  According  to 
her  advice,  she  gleaned  in  the  field  of  Boaz,  and  associated  with 
his  maidens.  Obedience  to  parents,  is  obedience  to  Him  who 
says,  'Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother.'  We  will,  how- 
ever, soon  have  occasion  to  observe,  that  there  are  limits  to  be 
set  to  this  obedience.  God  must  in  all  things  be  obeyed.  The 
commandments  and  counsels  of  parents  are  to  be  followed,  as 
far  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  the  will  of  God. 

Euth  not  only  entered  upon  a  course  of  useful,  though  hum- 
ble industry,  but  she  persisted  in  it.  She  did  not  weary  of 
her  mean  occupation,  but  persisted  in  gleaning  till  the  end 
both  of  barley  and  of  wheat  harvest.  Her  relation  to  Boaz 
did  not  inspire  her  with  vain  conceits  that  she  was  entitled  to 
greater  favour  from  him  than  a  permission  to  glean  after  his 
reapers.  Such  aspiring  thoughts  woukl  have  greatly  impaired, 
or  destroyed  at  once,  her  virtues,  her  reputation,  and  her  happi- 


94  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  VIII. 

ness.  She  was  well  content  with  her  present  low  condition, 
and  thankful  for  the  small  favours  that  were  done  her,  and 
waited  patiently  on  that  God,  under  the  shadow  of  whose 
wings  she  came  to  trust;  and,  in  his  own  time,  he  exalted  her 
to  possess  the  fields  which  she  now  gleaned. 

And  dwelt  with  her  mother-in-law,  'Changes  and  war  are 
against  me,'  said  Job.  This  language  is  not  uncommon  with 
those  who  have  lost  their  nearest  relations  and  most  beloved 
friends.  But  few  have  so  much  reason  to  speak  this  language 
as  that  patient  sufferer.  Changes  in  his  condition  robbed  him 
of  every  comfort.  Naomi  was  now  deprived  of  her  husband 
and  her  two  sons.  Ruth  was  deprived  of  her  husband.  But 
each  of  them  had  a  kind  and  pleasant  friend  left,  in  one  another. 
Their  religious  converse,  their  kind  attentions  to  one  another's 
comfort,  compensated,  in  a  great  measure,  the  loss  of  other 
friends.  They  were  not  so  rich  as  they  had  once  been ;  but 
the  goodness  of  Providence  to  them  in  their  destitute  circum- 
stances, would  probably  give  them  more  pleasure,  than  the 
rich  taste  in  their  abundance.  They  loved  one  another,  and 
dwelt  together  in  peace  and  unity.  And  where  virtuous  love 
is  found,  pleasure  is  not  absent;  for  'better  is  a  dinner  of  green 
herbs  where  love  is,  than  a  stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith.' 

Many  are  reduced  to  a  more  solitary  condition  than  Naomi. 
Deprived  of  their  best  friends,  they  have  none  else  to  supply 
their  place,  or  none  from  whom  they  can  derive  much  com- 
fort. But  let  them  not  repine  at  the  providence  of  God,  whose 
ways  are  always  mercy  and  truth  to  them  that  love  him.  Al- 
though you  should  be  forsaken  by  father  and  mother,  by  wife 
and  children,  remember  that  there  is  a  Friend  who  cannot  be 
lost.  Job's  children  were  all  destroyed.  He  had  one  near 
relation  left,  whose  behaviour  gave  him  pain  instead  of  pleas- 
ure. But  his  spirit  was  not  crushed  by  his  afflictions ;  for  he 
knew  that  his  Redeemer  still  lived.  Seek  fellowship  with  the 
Father,  and  with  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  your  joy  shall  be 
full:  1  John  i.  3,  4:  John  xiv.  20,  21. 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF  RUTH. 


LECTURE  IX. 


KUTH,  AT  THE  INSTIGATION  OF   NAOMI,   LAYS  HERSELF  DOWN  AT  THE 
FEET  OF  BOAZ,  AND   REQUESTS  HIM  TO  CAST  HIS  SKIRT  OVER  HER, 

CHAPTER  III.  1-9. 

"Verse  1. — Then  Naomi,  her  mother-in-law,  said  unto  her,  My 
daughter;  shall  I  not  seek  reMfor  thee,  that  it  may  be  well  with 
theef 

Naomi  was  happy  to  find  Euth  so  well  satisfied  with  her 
mean  condition,  but  earnestly  desired  to  have  her  placed  in 
more  comfortable  circumstances.  She  was  herself  an  old  wo- 
man, and  wishad  not,  at  her  departure  from  this  world,  to 
leave  her  daughter-in-law  friendless.  Her  thoughts  were  often 
employed  in  consulting  how  she  might  best  promote  and  secure 
the  happiness  of  such  a  beloved  friend.  She  had  now,  no 
doubt,  given  up  all  thought  of  much  earthly  comfort  to  her- 
self, except  what  she  found  in  the  love  of  Ruth.  But  she  was 
full  of  solicitude  for  her  daughter-in-law,  that  she  might  have 
no  temptation  to  regret  the  sacrifice  which  she  had  made  to 
herself  and  to  her  religion,  of  the  pleasures  of  her  father's  house. 

Shall  I  not  seek  rest  for  thee,  my  daughter?  It  is  our  com- 
mon practice  to  insist  upon  the  duties  owing  to  us  from  our 
friends,  and  not  to  give  ourselves  much  trouble  about  what  we 
owe  to  them.  There  are  some  parents  so  foolish  as  to  think 
that  their  children  owe  every  thing  to  them,  and  that  they 
owe  nothing  to  their  children.  For  this  reason,  they  are  full 
of  complaints  concerning  their  children's  undutiful  behaviour, 
when,  if  their  consciences  or  their  reason  were  awake,  these 
might  tell  them  that  the  fault  was  originally  in  themselves. 
^  If  they  had  been  more  attentive  to  the  happiness  of  their  chil- 


96  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

dreD,  their  children,  out  of  grateful  affection,  might  probably 
have  been  disposed  to  return  the  obligation. 

Shall  I  not  seek  rest  for  thee,  that  it  may  be  iveli  icith  thee  f 
For  this  end,  Naomi  wished  rest  for  her  daughter-in-law,  '  that 
it  might  be  well  with  her.'  When  young  persons  become 
widowers  or  widows,  the  relations  of  the  deceased  husband  or 
wife  often  attend  more  to  their  interest  in  the  deceased,  than 
to  the  happiness  of  the  survivor,  although  those  who  have  Left 
the  world  can  receive  no  more  benefit  from  them;  and  the  best 
proof  which  they  can  give  of  their  affection  to  the  friend  whom 
they  have  lost,  is  to  show  a  proper  attention  to  the  happiness 
and  comfort  of  the  persons  dearest  to  them  whilst  they  were 
upon  the  earth.  Naomi  doubtless  thought,  with  as  much  re- 
gret as  other  mothers  do,  upon  her  beloved  son  now  in  the 
grave ;  but  she  did  not  think  it  would  be  any  advantage  to 
his  soul,  or  to  his  memory,  to  keep  his  widow  unmarried. 
Death  dissolves  the  marriage  relation;  and  at  the  resurrection, 
there  will  be  no  reclaiming  of  husbands  or  wives  that  were 
left  in  this  world;  Luke  xx.  35. 

Naomi  had  no  thoughts  of  marriage  for  herself,  because  she 
was  too  old  to  think  of  it,  chap.  i.  12 ;  but  she  thinks  of  marriage 
for  her  daughter-in-law,  who  was  not  yet  too  old  to  have  an 
husband,  and  to  entertain  the  hope  of  children.  Thus  Paul, 
who  advises  persons  in  certain  circumstances  not  to  marry,  or 
to  renew  that  nuptial  bond  from  which  they  are  loosed,  gives 
an  opposite  advice  to  other  virgins  or  widows.  ^The  younger 
widows  refuse,'  says  that  apostle  to  Timothy.  Admit  them 
not  to  those  offices  or  trusts  which  would  render  marriage  in- 
convenient, or  which  would  be  a  temptation  to  them  to  wax 
wanton  in  the  unmarried  state,  and  then  to  enter  into  mar- 
riages with  such  persons,  or  into  marriages  attended  with  such 
circumstances,  as  would  bring  guilt,  and  reproach,  and  danger 
upon  them;  but  ^I  will,'  adds  he,  Hhat  the  young  women,'  or 
the  younger  widows,  *  marry,  bear  children,  guide  the  house, 
give  none  occasion  to  the  adversary  to  speak  reproachfully.' 

Naomi  was  not  one  of  those  old  women  who  grudge  to  the 
younger  those  comforts  and  advantages  which  themselves  are 
too  old  to  enjoy  or  to  relish.     *  We  are  glad/  says  Paul,  ^  when 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF   EUTH.  97 

-we  are  weak  and  ye  arc  strong.'  Thus  Naomi  will  be  glad  to 
see  her  beloved  daughter-in-law  enjoying  rest  in  the  house  of 
an  husband,  although  herself  was  constrained  by  old  age  to 
live  in  perpetual  soMtude.  Perhaps  her  daughter-in-law,  when 
married,  might  find  it  convenient  to  have  her  mother-in-law 
Avith  her;  but  if  not,  still  Naomi  wished  her  to  be  happily 
married.  The  comfort  of  her  daughter-in-law  was  chiefly  in 
view  in  the  advice  she  gave  her.  And  whenever  any  person 
pretends  to  give  an  advice  to  another,  he  must  lay  aside  all 
considerations  of  himself,  and  have  in  his  view  nothing  but 
the  advantage  of  his  neighbour;  or,  if  he  wishes  to  serve  him- 
self by  his  advice,  let  him  fairly  avow  it,  that  he  may  preserve 
the  consciousness  of  integrity.  We  may  very  honestly  request 
a  favour  to  ourselves,  but  we  must  not  steal  it  by  false  pre- 
tences of  regard  to  the  interest  of  those  from  whom  we  desire 
it,  when  we  have  only  our  own  in  view. 

Parents,  in  particular,  ought  to  have  solely  in  view  the  hap- 
piness of  their  children  in  those  advices  which  they  give  them 
about  entering  into  the  marriage  state.  They  ought  to  con- 
sider the  happiness  of  their  children  as  their  own,  and  to  choose 
for  sons  and  daughters-in-law,  not  those  persons  who  are  most 
agreeable  to  themselves,  but  such  as,  all  things  considered,  are 
most  likely  to  render  their  own  children  happy.  It  is  vain 
to  hope  that  we  shall  be  able  to  force  the  inclinations  of  our 
children  into  a  similarity  with  our  own.  Gentle  persuasions 
and  serious  advices  may  frequently  be  of  good  use.  Compul- 
sion belongs,  not  to  a  parent,  but  to  a  tyrant. 

That  it  may  he  well  with  thee.  An  augmentation  of  happi- 
ness is  that  which  all  men  and  women  seek  in  entering  into 
the  state  of  marriage.  And  marriage,  contracted  with  due 
deliberation,  may  be  reasonably  expected  to  yield  such  happi- 
ness as  earthly  things  can  afford.  ^It  is  not  good,'  said  God, 
Uhat  the  man  should  be  alone;  I  will  make  him  an  help  meet 
for  him.'  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  woman 
made  to  be  an  help  meet  for  him  was  made  in  his  own  image, 
as  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  God.  Both  men  and  women 
have  lost  their  integrity,  and  therefore  married  persons  may 
expect  trouble  in  the  flesh.  Thorns  and  briars  have  sprung 
7 


98  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

up  in  all  the  relations  and  connections  of  life,  as  well  as  on 
the  face  of  the  ground.  Yet  the  pleasure  and  advantages  of 
marriage  are  likely  to  counterbalance,  by  many  degrees,  the 
sorrows  that  attend  it,  when  the  parties  are  equally  yoked. 
If  we  are  blessed  with  partners  renewed  in  knowledge  and 
holiness,  after  the  image  of  our  Creator,  not  only  will  our  pres- 
ent comfort  be  greatly  promoted,  but  our  eternal  interests  like- 
wise; and  we  will  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  the  happy  con- 
nection, not  only  during  the  few  years  that  we  may  live  to- 
gether upon  earth,  but  through  endless  ages. 

If  wise  persons  enter  into  this  relation  that  it  may  be  well 
with  themselves,  they  will  consider  that  their  partners  enter- 
tained the  same  views.  We  must  be  over-run  wath  selfish- 
ness, and  with  a  foolish  kind  of  selfishness  which  disappoints 
its  own  views,  if  we  hope  to  receive,  without  endeavouring  to 
communicate  happiness.  Even  an  Abigail  could  not  make 
such  a  churl  as  Nabal  happy.  But  half  her  sense  and  virtue 
might  have  made  a  man  happy,  whose  dispositions  were  like 
her  own. 

Shall  I  not  seek  rest  for  thee,  that  it  may  be  well  with  theef  It 
might  serve  a  good  purpose,  if  persons  joined  together  in  mar- 
riage would  seriously  consider  these  two  things — whether  their 
happiness  is  increased  by  their  change  of  state — and  whether 
the  happiness  of  their  partners  is  increased  by  it.  If  we  are 
rather  miserable  than  happy  in  this  connection,  there  must  be 
a  great  fault  on  one,  and  probably  on  both  sides.  Nor  is  it 
the  less  likely  to  be  on  our  own  side,  that  we  are  disposed  to 
lay  all  the  blame  on  the  other.  Most  persons  might  find  much 
happiness  in  marriage,  if  they  uniformly  persisted  in  endeav- 
ours to  do  the  duty  of  the  relation  for  their  own  part,  whatever 
their  companions  in  life  do,  and  at  the  same  time  endeavoured, 
to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  to  impress  religious  sentiments 
on  the  minds  of  their  partners.  Eeligion  is  the  solid  basis  of 
morality  in  all  its  branches.  ^  A  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord, 
she  shall  be  praised,'  for  her  conjugal  and  other  social  virtues, 
as  well  as  for  her  piety. 

Verses  2,  3,  4. — And  noio  is  not  Boaz  of  our  kindred,  with 
whose  maidens  thou  wastf  behold,  he  winnoweth  barley  to-night 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF  RUTH.  99 

m  ilie  threshing  floor.  Wash  thy  self ,  therefore,  and  anoint  thee, 
and  put  thy  i-aiment  upon  thee,  and  get  thee  down  to  the  floor ; 
but  make  not  thyself  knoion  unto  the  man,  until  he  shall  have  done 
eating  and  drinking.  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  lieth  down,  that 
thou  shalt  mark  the  place  lohere  he  shall  lie,  and  thou  shall  go  in, 
and  uncover  his  feet  and  lay  thee  down;  and  he  will  tell  thee  what 
thou  shalt  do. 

Hitherto  we  have  found  nothing  in  Naomi's  conduct  that 
does  not  gain  our  approbation ;  but  imperfection  is  the  at- 
tendant of  humanity  in  its  present  state,  and  Naomi  appears, 
in  that  part  of  her  conduct  which  we  now  consider,  to  have 
erred.  Her  views  were  good,  but  the  means  she  took  to  ac- 
complish them  were  unwise.  They  were,  indeed,  followed  with 
success ;  but  for  the  success  we  are  to  praise  Boaz,  or  rather 
that  gracious  Providence  which  over-ruled  ill-contrived  means 
to  accomplish  its  own  ends.  God,  in  his  mercy,  often  prevents 
those  errors  in  our  conduct  to  which  the  darkness  of  our  own 
minds  v/ould  lead  us,  and  often  prevents  those  errors  into 
which  we  fall  from  being  attended  with  the  pernicious  con- 
sequences which  would  otherwise  attend  them. 

And  now,  is  not  Boaz  of  our  kindred,  with  whose  maidens  thou 
wastf  A  kinsman  amongst  us  is  a  person  w^ith  whom  we 
reckon  ourselves  entitled  to  use  some  freedom;  but,  to  under- 
stand the  words  of  Naomi,  we  must  remember  that  there  were 
laws  concerning  kinsmen  given  to  the  Israelites,  by  which  they 
were  encouraged  to  expect  relief  from  them  in  their  distress. 
The  kinsman  was  to  be  a  redeemer  to  those  Israelites  that 
were  in  bondage.  Estates  sold  by  the  poor,  might  be  recovered 
by  their  interposition,  and  children  might  be  given  to  the  dead 
by  the  marriage  of  his  widow  with  his  kinsman.  Naomi  knew 
the  tender  affection  of  Boaz  for  his  kindred,  his  compassion 
for  their  afflictions,  his  regard  to  the  law  of  God.  She  be- 
lieved that  he  needed  only  to  be  put  in  mind  of  the  duties  of 
a  kinsman,  to  do  every  thing  for  Ruth  that  she  could  reason- 
ably desire;  and  we  are  here  told  how  she  proceeded  in  this 
important  business. 

Behold,  he  winnoweth  barley  to-night  in  the  threshing  fiOor, 
Barley  must  be  winnowed  that  it  may  be  used ;  but  will  Boaz 


100  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

himself  take  part  in  such  a  mean  employment?  What  should 
hinder  Boaz  from  taking  part  in  it?  He  lived  in  the  days  of 
ancient  simplicity.  Modern  refinements  and  etiquette  cannot 
give  more  pleasure  to  the  fashionable  gentleman,  than  honest 
industry  gave  to  this  grandson  of  a  famous  prince  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Judah.  We  do  not  withhold  our  admiration  from 
Camillus,  or  Fabricius,  or  other  fainous  consuls  and  dictators 
of  the  ancient  Romans,  because  they  held  the  plough  with 
those  hands  which  destroyed  the  enemies  of  their  country. 

Wash  thyself,  therefore,  and  anoint  thee,  and  j^^t  thy  raiment 
upon  thee.  Anointing  the  head  was  customary  as  well  as  wash- 
ings, amongst  persons  of  ordinary  condition  in  the  land  of 
Israel;  where  they  were  highly  expedient  on  account  of  the 
heat  of  the  climate,  and  where  they  are  still  much  practised. 

And  put  thy  raiment  upon  thee.  Naomi  does  not  advise  Ruth 
to  procure  new  clothes  for  the  occasion,  which  she  might  have 
perhaps  been  enabled  to  do  by  the  profits  of  her  labour.  Her 
^adorning  was  not  that  of  the  putting  on  of  apparel,  but  the 
ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit.^  Yet  it  was  proper, 
when  she  went  to  a  feast,  that  she  should  put  on  the  best  clothes 
in  her  possession.  If  decency  of  apparel  is  not  a  virtue,  sloven- 
liness is  at  least  an  approach  to  vice.  It  is  our  duty  to  treat 
with  becoming  respect  our  inferiors  and  equals,  and  still  more 
our  superiors,  when  they  honour  us  with  their  kindness. 

But  make  not  thyself  known  unto  him  until  he  shall  have  done  with 
eating  and  drinking.  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  lieth  down,  that  thou 
shalt  mark  the  place  where  he  shall  lie;  and  thou  shalt  go  in,  and 
uncover  his  feet,  and  lay  thee  doimi.  She  was  to  discover  nothing 
of  her  intention  to  Boaz  when  she  went  to  the  feast,  but  rather 
to  avoid  any  particular  notice,  that  he  might  entertain  no  sus- 
picion of  wliat  was  to  follow.  Concealment  of  intentions  may 
be  very  proper,  and  very  consistent  with  uprightness,  in  some 
cases.  But  we  must  beware  of  doing  any  thing  that  will  not 
bear  the  light,  or  using  those  arts  of  concealment  in  transacting 
lawful  affairs  that  may  be  attended  with  bad  effects  upon  our 
character.  It  was  perfectly  consistent  "with  uprightness  in 
Samuel  to  conceal  his  chief  intention  when  he  came  to  Beth- 
lehem to  anoint  David;  apd  in  Solomon,  when  he  commanded 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF    RUTH.  101 

a  sword  to  be  brought,  and  his  guards  to  slay  the  living  child 
about  which  the  two  harlots  contended.  But  it  was  not  wise 
or  safe  in  Ruth  to  conceal  her  intentions  from  Boaz,  when 
she  came  to  his  feast.  Friendliness,  and  openness  of  dealing, 
is  in  general  better  policy  than  those  arts  of  concealment  which, 
if  they  are  not  evil  in  themselves,  are  often  bad  in  their  con- 
sequences. 

Naomi  seems  to  have  considered  Boaz  and  Ruth  as  married 
persons ;  otherwise  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  what  end  she  could 
propose  in  advising  Ruth  to  mark  where  he  lay,  and  place 
herself  at  his  feet.  She  either  did  not  know,  or  did  not  rec- 
ollect that  there  was  a  kinsman  nearer  to  them  than  Boaz,  or 
knew  that  the  nearest  kinsman  would  not  perform  the  kinsman's 
part  to  Mahlon.  However  good  her  intentions  were,  she  greatly 
erred  in  attempting  to  form  a  connection  between  them  in 
secret.  Marriage  transactions  ought  to  be  openly  published 
to  the  world.  There  may  be  just  impediments  to  a  marriage, 
which  neither  the  parties  nor  their  w^itnesses  know.  Naomi 
might  probably  think  that  their  ancestor  Judah  plainly  con- 
sidered Tamar  as  the  wife  of  Shelah,  before  she  was  given  to 
him.  He  would  not  have  required  her  to  be  burnt  when  he 
heard  of  her  pregnancy,  if  he  had  not  considered  it  as  the  fruit 
of  adultery.  If  Boaz  and  Ruth  stood  in  the  same  relation  as 
Shelah  and  Tamar,  why  might  they  not  agree  about  living 
together,  without  any  new  ceremony?  or,  if  any  thing  more 
was  necessary  to  be  done,  Boaz  would  take  the  care  of  it  upon 
himself,  after  this  plain  indication  of  Ruth's  willingness  to 
become  his  wife.  Such  were  probably  the  thoughts  of  this 
good  woman,  for  many  even  of  the  thoughts  of  the  wise  are 
vain. 

Whatever  apologies  may  be  made  for  Naomi  or  Ruth,  none 
can  with  any  appearance  of  reason  be  made  for  clandestine 
marriages  amongst  ourselves.  If  even  the  wise  and  pious  Na- 
omi acted  so  unwarily,  when  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  coun- 
try seemed  to  favour  her  plan,  what  can  be  said  for  those  who 
wilfully  violate  a  plain  law  of  their  country,  instituted  for  the 
prevention  of  the  most  abominable  crimes?  What  adulteries 
or  incestuous  conjunctions  would  be  the  natural  consequence 


102  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

of  the  abolition  of  the  laws  requiring  publicity  in  marriage 
transactions!  The  transgression  of  laws  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  prevention  of  any  vice,  is  an  attempt  to  remove  the 
barriers  by  which  it  has  been  restrained.  Important  circum- 
stances necessary  to  be  known  and  attended  to,  appear  to  have 
been  overlooked  by  Naomi,  when  she  gave  directions  to  E-uth 
about  her  marriage.  If  Boaz,  and  other  friends,  had  been 
duly  informed  of  her  views,  they  would  have  secured  Ruth 
against  that  danger  of  disgrace,  or  of  something  worse,  which 
was  evidently  incurred;  though  God,  in  his  mercy,  prevented 
the  mischief. 

Verse  5. — And  she  said  unto  her.  All  that  thou  sayest  unto  me 
I  will  do. 

Ruth,  we  may  suppose,  felt  some  repugnance  at  the  thought 
of  lying  down  at  the  feet  of  Boaz ;  but  she  believed  her  mother- 
in-law  to  be  a  wiser  woman  than  herself,  and  better  acquainted 
with  the  laws  and  customs  of  Israel.  She  therefore  promised 
to  comply  exactly  with  her  advice.  AVe  are  pleased  with  her 
humility,  her  deference,  and  her  obedience  to  her  mother-in- 
law  ;  and  yet  it  is  to  be  wished  that  she  had  consulted  her  own 
judgment  more  than  she  did.  The  holy  writers  often  advise 
children  to  obey  their  parents,  but  their  obedience  must  be  ^in 
the  Lord.'  Faults  that  lean  to  virtue's  side  are  still  faults. 
As  none  ought  to  call  that  unclean  which  God  hath  sanctified, 
nothing  can  sanctify  what  is  contrary  to  the  revealed  will  of 
God. 

The  blame,  however,  if  we  must  blame  Ruth,  was  not  so 
much  her  own  as  Naomi's.  Let  all  parents,  and  all  whose 
office  it  is  to  command  or  to  advise,  be  careful  to  furnish  them- 
selves with  clear  views  of  sin  and  duty,  that  they  may  not 
cause  those  who  pay,  and  should  pay,  a  great  deference  to  their 
judgment,  to  err  out  of  the  way  of  understanding.  One  great 
end  of  the  writing  of  the  book  of  Proverbs  was,  that  we  might 
be  furnished  with  stores  of  wisdom,  enabling  us  to  give  sound 
counsel  to  our  neighbours.  ^A  man  of  understanding  shall 
attain  unto  wise  counsels;'  Prov.  i.  5. 

Verse  6. — And  she  went  down  unto  the  floor j  and  did  according 
to  all  that  her  mother-in-law  hade  her. 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF    RUTH.  103 

There  are  some  who  say  and  do  not.  There  are  some  who 
will  not  say,  and  yet  will  do  what  they  are  commanded  by 
their  parents,  lluth  both  says  and  does  what  her  mother-in- 
law  advised  her  to  do.  Both  in  word  and  deed  we  ought  to 
testify  our  reverence  for  parents,  and  for  all  that  possess  a 
just  title  to  our  obedience.  Exceptions  must  be  made,  because 
none  but  God  can  claim  an  unlimited  right  to  our  submission. 
Ruth  might  err  by  excess  of  complaisance  to  her  mother-in- 
law;  but  the  errors  of  young  persons  are  commonly  of  an  op- 
posite kind. 

Verse  7. — And  when  Boaz  had  eaten  and  drunk j  and  his  heart 
was  merry,  he  went  to  lie  down  at  the  end  of  the  heap  of  corn; 
and  she  came  softly,  and  uncovered  his  feet,  and  laid  her  down. 

^  Go  thy  way,  eat  thy  bread  with  cheerfulness,  and  drink 
thy  wine  with  a  merry  heart,  when  God  accepteth  thy  works,' 
and  giveth  thee  special  testimonies  of  his  goodness.  ^  Every 
creature  of  God  is  good,  and  nothing  to  be  refused,  being  sanc- 
tified by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.'  Although  wine,  as  it 
is  used  by  the  sons  of  riot,  ^  is  a  mocker,  and  strong  drink  is 
raging,'  yet  it  is  a  good  creature  of  God,  given  to  cheer  the 
heart  of  man.  Christ  himself  turned  water  into  wine  for  the 
entertainment  of  a  company  met  together  at  a  marriage-feast. 

Boaz  did  not  think  it  below  his  dignity  to  eat  and  drink 
with  his  servants,  nor  did  he  think  it  inconsistent  with  the  laws 
of  sobriety  to  take  a  moderate  share  of  that  pleasant  liquor 
which 'cheereth  the  heart  of  God  and  man.'  He  would  ob- 
serve God's  faithfulness,  as  well  as  goodness,  in  the  provision 
of  his  table,  when  he  enjoyed  the  blessing  of  his  father  Judah, 
to  whom  it  was  promised,  that  '  his  teeth  should  be  white  with 
milk,  and  his  eyes  red  with  wine.' 

Think  not  that  Boaz  had  gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  mod- 
eration, when  his  heart  was  cheerful  through  wine.  He  had 
drunk  away  no  part  of  his  understanding,  as  you  will  see  by 
his  behaviour.  Drunkenness  is  the  introduction  to  other  sen- 
sual impurities,  when  the  devil  can  find  means  to  present  a 
suitable  temptation.  ^  Thijie  eyes,'  says  Solomon  to  the  drunk- 
ard, 'shall  behold  strange  women,  and  thine  heart  shall  utter 
perverse  things.'     But  when  Boaz  found  that  there  was  a  wo- 


104  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

man  lying  at  his  feet,  he  was  ashamed,  and  on  his  guard  against 
every  appearance  of  evil. 

^He  went  to  lie  down  at  the  end  of  the  heap^  of  wheat,  in 
his  clothes.  This  was  another  instance  of  the  simplicity  of 
manners  in  his  age.  Why  should  we  wonder  that  people  of 
ancient  times  had  manners  different  from  ours?  There  is  no 
law  of  reason  or  religion  that  binds  the  men  of  other  nations  to 
adopt  the  British  laws.  There  was  as  little  reason  why  the 
ancients  should  observe  those  modes  of  conduct  which  are 
thought  proper  to  be  observed  in  our  days. 

*She  rose  softly  and  uncovered  his  feet,  and  lay  down.' 
Neither  of  them  was  undressed.  Yet  we  can  by  no  means  jus- 
tify Naomi  or  Ruth.  We  ought  to  ^abstain  from  all  appear- 
ance of  evil,'  and  to  ^make  straight  paths  for  our  feet,  that 
that  which  is  lame  may  not  be  turned  out  of  the  way.'  No 
woman  can  plead  Ruth's  example  as  an  excuse  for  similar  con- 
duct, not  only  because  no  bad  examples,  even  of  good  men  or 
women,  are  to  be  imitated,  but  because  the  circumstances  of 
those  who  might  plead  such  example,  cannot  be  the  same,  un- 
less the  Jewish  laws,  concerning  the  marriage  of  the  near  kins- 
man, were  to  be  restored  to  their  force. 

Verses  8,  9. — And  it  came  to  pass  at  midnight j  that  the  man 
was  afraid,  and  turned  himself;  and  behold  a  womoji  lay  at  his 
feet.  And  he  said,  Who  art  thouf  and  she  answered,  lam  Ruth 
thine  handmaid;  spread  therefore  thy  skirt  over  thine  handmaid, 
for  thou  art  a  near  kinsman. 

Boaz  was  startled  when  he  awaked  out  of  sleep  and  felt  one 
lying  at  his  feet.  He  was  amazed  when  he  cast  his  eyes  on 
the  person  who  had  used  the  freedom,  and  saw  that  it  was  a 
woman.  Had  he  intoxicated  himself  at  the  feast,  when  his 
heart  was  merry  With  wine,  he  would  now  have  been  exposed 
to  one  of  the  most  dangerous  snares  of  the  devil.  But  he  was 
in  full  possession  of  his  reason.  What  was  still  better,  his 
virtue  or  his  grace  was  awake  to  preserve  him  from  the  power 
of  temptation.  By  the  grace  of  God  he  kept  himself,  and  the 
wicked  one  troubled  him  not. 

Who  art  thouf  he  said.     He  could  perceive  by  the  little 
light  he  had,  that  it  was  a  woman  that  lay  at  his  feet;  but 


CHAP.  III.  1-9.  OF  EUTH.  105 

what  woman  it  was  he  could  not  discern,  and  it  was  natural 
to  suppose  that  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  foolish  women, 
who  came  with  no  good  intentions,  to  place  herself  so  near  him. 
"We  must  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  dark- 
ness, but  rather  reprove  those  who  evidently  sin,  and  call  those 
to  account  whose  conduct  is  suspicious,  when  they  will  expose 
themselves  to  our  censure. 

/  am  Ruth  thine  handmaid.  Spread  thy  shirt  therefore  over 
thine  handmaid.  Ruth  does  not  now  hesitate  to  make  herself 
known  to  Boaz.  She  tells  him  who  she  was,  and  solicits  him 
to  spread  his  skirt  over  her,  and  thus  to  acknowledge  himself 
her  husband.  A  woman  may,  in  some  extraordinary  cases 
supposable  amongst  ourselves,  solicit  or  demand  marriage  from 
a  man,  without  violating  the  laws  of  delicacy  or  reserve  which 
nature  or  custom  enjoins.  But  the  law  of  Moses  allowed  a 
woman  to  request  marriage  from  the  brother  of  her  husband 
who  died  without  children,  and  to  put  him  to  open  shame  if 
he  refused  to  comply.  Boaz  was  not  a  broth er-german  of  Mah- 
lon ;  but  either  the  law,  it  appears,  was  in  this  age  understood 
to  comprehend  the  nearest  relations,  when  brothers  by  fathers 
or  mothers  were  wanting ;  or  a  custom,  founded  on  the  spirit 
of  the  law,  was  introduced  to  extend  its  benefits. 

Women,  in  ordinary  cases,  would  greatly  err  and  expose 
themselves  to  shame,  were  they  to  show  an  eager  desire  of  mar- 
riage; but  they  may  likewise  err  by  affected  refusals  of  an  hus- 
band, or  by  obstinately  continuing  in  the  single  state  when  they 
ought  to  marry.  ^I  will,'  says  an  apostle,  Hhat  the  younger 
widows  marry.'  He  does  not  will  them  all  to  marry.  There 
are  circumstances  in  which  they  who  marry  not,  do  better  than 
those  who  marry ;  but  there  are  others  in  which  they  would 
expose  themselves  to  needless  temptations,  or  to  useless  vex- 
ations, by  continuing  single.  In  this,  as  in  every  important 
step  of  life,  let  men  and  women  attend  to  the  directions  of  the 
word  of  God,  and  acknowledge  Him  by  prayer,  and  he  will 
direct  their  steps  in  the  way  of  peace  and  holiness. 

'Spread  thy  skirt  over  me,  for  thou  art  a  near  kinsman.' 
The  near  relation  of  Boaz  to  Ruth  by  Mahlon,  was  her  en- 
couragement to  seek  and  to  hope  that  bhe  should  be  covered 


106  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  IX. 

with  his  skirt.  May  we  not  much  more  take  encouragement 
from  the  near  relation  of  our  blessed  Lord,  to  hope  that  he 
will  not  disdain  to  receive  us  into  a  marriage-relation?  Why 
did  he  take  part  of  our  flesh  and  blood?  Was  it  not  that  he 
might  betroth  us  to  himself?  In  his  grace  and  pity  he  ^  was 
in  all  tliiniis  made  like  unto  us,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful 
and  faithful  High  Priest,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of 
the  people.'  He  is  the  great  pattern  of  conjugal  love,  for  he 
gave  himself  for  his  destined  spouse,  ^that  he  might  sanctify 
and  cleanse  her  by  the  washing  of  water  through  the  word, 
and  might  present  her  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having 
spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing.'  Why  doth  he  send  forth 
his  servants,  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  to  declare  his  name 
to  us?  Is  it  not  that  they  may  ^espouse  souls  to  one  husband, 
and  present  them  as  chaste  virgins  unto  Christ?' 


CHAP.  III.  10-18.  OF  RUTH.  107 


LECTURE  X 


BOAZ  PROMISES  TO  RUTH  TO  MARRY  HER,  IF  HER  HUSBAND'S  NEAREST 
KINSMAN  DID  NOT  INSIST  UPON  HIS  PRIOR  RIGHT.  HE  DISMISSES 
HER  WITH  A  PRESENT  TO  HER  MOTHER-IN-LAW,  WHO  EXPRESSES 
GREAT  SATISFACTION  WITH  HER  KIND  RECEPTION  BY  BOAZ. 

CHAPTER  III.  10-18. 

Verse  10. — And  he  said.  Blessed  be  thou  of  the  Lord,  my 
daughter;  for  thou  hast  showed  more  kindness  in  the  latter  end 
than  at  the  beginning,  inasmuch  as  thou  followedst  not  young  men, 
whether  poor  or  rich. 

Ruth,  no  doubt,  felt  much  anxiety  in  her  mind,  when  she 
thought  of  the  reception  with  which  she  might  meet  from 
Boaz,  as  the  whole  colour  of  her  future  life  depended  upon  it; 
but  his  former  kindness  gave  her  hope,  and  she  was  not  dis- 
appointed. 

Some  men  meeting  with  such  an  application  from  a  young 
woman,  would  have  taken  advantage  of  her  imprudence  to 
draw  her  into  the  snares  of  the  devil.  Others  would  have 
treated  her  with  asperity,  as  a  presuming  wench  divested  of 
the  modesty  belonging  to  her  sex.  Boaz  knew  Ruth  and  Na- 
omi too  well  to  entertain  any  injurious  suspicion  concerning 
Ruth's  present  conduct.  He  saw  that  she  was  acting  according 
to  Naomi's  direction,  and  that  their  views  were  pure,  what- 
ever might  be  thought  of  the  manner  in  which  they  endeavoured 
to  accomplish  them.  Actions  are  often  to  be  estimated  from 
the  character  of  the  actor.  Virtuous  women  may  be  found  in 
situations  that  might  justly  expose  tliem  to  suspicion,  if  their 
former  behaviour  did  not  give  them  a  just  title  to  have  that 
conduct  ascribed  to  mistake,  or  to  some  unknown  cause,  which 
at  first  view  appeared  almost  inexcusable. 


108  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

Blessed  be  (kou  of  the  Lord,  for  thou  hast  showed  more  kindness 
in  the  hitter  end  than  at  the  beginning,  to  thy  husband's  family. 
She  had  no  doubt  made  an  excellent  wife  to  Mahlon.  Since 
his  death,  she  had  fulfilled  all  the  offices  of  an  affectionate 
daughter  to  Naomi.  Her  desire  of  becoming  the  wife  of 
Mahlon's  near  kinsman,  was  considered  by  Boaz  as  an  instance 
of  her  kindness  to  the  deceased,  that  deserved  still  greater 
praise.  Boaz  was  an  old  man.  A  young  woman  of  Ruth's 
beauty  and  character  might  have  expected  an  husband  amongst 
the  young  men  of  the  country,  better  suited  to  her  taste,  and 
more  likely  to  make  her  happy  through  life,  if  her  happiness 
had  not  consisted  to  a  great  degree  in  showing  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  dead,  and  to  the  comfort  of  her  living  friends. 

*  Thou  hast  not  followed  young  men,  whether  poor  or  rich.' 
Some  might  have  supposed,  that  a  mean  and  covetous  spirit 
had  induced  Ruth  to  seek  an  alliance  with  Boaz,  rather  than 
with  a  man  near  her  own  age.  But  nothing  could  have  been 
more  unjust,  than  to  entertain  such  an  opinion  of  a  woman  of 
approved  virtue.  None  but  a  woman  fit  to  be  a  prostitute  for 
hire,  would  marry  a  man  for  his  riches,  when  she  would  have 
preferred  another  man  to  him  if  he  had  not  been  poor.  Ruth's 
contentment  with  her  low  condition,  her  conjugal  affection  to 
Mahlon,  still  apparent  in  her  filial  behaviour  to  his  mother, 
her  modesty,  lier  piety,  were  proofs  that  she  could  not  act  upon 
motives  so  unworthy  to  come  into  the  mind  of  an  Israelitess. 
An  Israelitess  she  may  with  propriety  be  called.  She  was  so 
by  choice  if  not  by  birth;  and  from  a  pious  regard  to  the  God 
and  to  the  people  of  Israel,  she  preferred  widowhood,  or  the 
meanest  connections  in  the  Holy  Land,  to  any  prospects  she 
could  form  amongst  her  friends  in  Moab. 

God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  to  bind 
them  in  the  connections  of  a  common  brotherhood.  And  he 
liath  parcelled  out  men  into  particular  kindreds  and  families, 
to  bind  them  still  closer  in  friendship  with  those  to  whom  they 
may  communicate,  or  from  whom  they  may  receive,  the  kind- 
nesses due  from  men  to  their  own  flesh.  Boaz,  entertaining  a 
warm  regard  to  liis  own  kindred,  thought  himself  indebted  to 
Ruth  for  that  afl'ectiouate  regard  which  she  had  showed  to  Jiis 


CHAP.  III.  10-18.  OF   EUTH.  109 

friends.     He  gave  her  due  praise  for  her  behaviour,  and  prom- 
ised that  he  would  take  care  of  her  interests. 

Verse  U.—And  now,  my  daughter,  fear  not;  I  loill  do  to  thee 
all  that  thou  requirest:  for  all  the  city  of  my  'people  doth  know 
that  thou  art  a  virtuous  woman. 

Blessings  of  the  tongue  are  cheap,  and  very  readily  given  by 
some  who  have  nothing  else  to  give.  Boaz  prays  that  the  Lord 
might  bless  Euth,  and  at  the  same  time  undertakes  to  do  what 
she  required,  if  he  found  it  consistent  with  the  rights  of  a  still 
nearer  kinsman. 

He  calls  her  his  daughter,  and  yet  is  very  ready  to  take  lier 
for  a  v/ife.  Equality  of  age  is  very  desirable  in  the  marriage 
relation,  but  not  indispensable.  If  a  young  woman  find  that 
she  cannot  love  an  old  man,  she  cannot,  without  sinning,  and 
without  exposing  herself  to  great  temptations  for  the  time  to 
come,  enter  into  that  relation,  the  duties  of  which  cannot  be 
rightly  performed  without  that  conjugal  affection  which  ought 
to  be  maintained  between  those  who  are  'no  more  twain,  but 
one  flesh.'  Nor  can  parents,  without  unnatural  cruelty,  urge 
their  daughters  to  marry  men,  to  whom  they  cannot  cheerfully 
proniise  that  love  and  reverence  which  are  indispensably  re- 
quisite in  Christian  wives.  But  Ruth  found  no  difficulty  in 
the  matter.  She  entertained  a  cordial  love  to  Boaz  as  a  irood 
man,  as  the  best  friend  of  her  family,  and  her  own  friend. 
Boaz  neither  thought,  nor  had  any  reason  to  think,  that  she 
wished  from  any  improper  motives  to  become  his  wife,  for  she 
was  well  known  to  be  a  virtuous  woman. 

If  she  had  not  been  a  virtuous  woman,  Boaz  would  not  have 
thought  of  making  her  his  wife.  Neither  beauty,  were  it  equal 
to  that  of  our  first  mother  in  her  first  estate,  nor  wit,  nor  any 
qualification,  however  brilliant,  or  however  engaging,  can 
supply  the  place  of  virtue.  Without  virtue,  the  most  attrac- 
tive qualities  are  very  likely  to  become  incentives  and  tempta- 
tions to  vice ;  Prov.  xxxi.  30. 

All  the  city  of  my  pieople  doth  know  that  thou  art  a  virtuous 
woman.  This  was  a  great  recommendation  of  Ruth  to  Boaz, 
that  her  virtue  was  well  known  and  acknowledged  by  all  his 
fellow-citizens.     All  young  women  ought  not  only  to  behave 


110  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

well,  but  to  keep  at  a  distance  from  every  thing  that  may  render 
their  character  doubtful.  What  wise  man  will  ever  pay  his 
addresses  to  a  woman,  however  virtuous,  unless  she  entertain 
a  due  reo-ard  to  her  own  character?  It  cannot  even  be  said 
that  a  woman  is  unexceptionable  in  virtue,  when  she  is  not 
duly  careful  of  the  appearance,  as  well  as  of  the  reality  of 
virtuous  conduct.  Whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  and  of  good 
re])ort,  must  be  thought  upon  and  practised  by  Christians  of 
both  sexes.  Female  delicacy  requires  particular  attention  to 
this  rule  of  conduct  from  the  weaker  sex. 

Although  Boaz  was  charmed  with  the  behaviour,  and  pleased 
with  the  cliaracter  of  Ruth,  yet  he  would  take  no  unfair  methods 
to  obtain  her  for  himself.  ^  A  virtuous  woman  is  a  crown  to 
her  husband.'  But  an  honest  man  will  not  use  unjustifiable 
methods  to  obtain  the  best  crown  which  this  earth  can  afford. 

Verses  12,  13. — And  now,  it  is  true  that  I  am  thy  near  kins- 
man :  howbeit  there  is  a  kinsman  nearer  than  I.  Tarry  this  night, 
and  it  shall  be  in  the  morning,  that  if  he  will  perform  unto  thee  the 
part  of  a  kinsman,  icell,  let  him  do  the  kinsman^ s  part;  but  if  he 
will  not  do  the  part  of  a  kinsman  to  thee,  then  will  I  do  the  part  of 
a  kinsman  to  thee,  as  the  Lord  liveth.    Lie  down  until  the  moiiiing. 

When  xVlexander  the  Great  took  Tyre,  he  was  informed  of 
a  young  prince  who  had  obtained  a  high  character  for  virtue, 
and  offered  him  the  crown.  The  young  prince  refused  it,  be- 
cause he  had  an  elder  brother,  who  had  a  better  title  than  him- 
self to  the  royal  dignity;  for  they  were  of  the  ancient  blood  of 
the  Tyrian  kings.  Boaz  deserves  no  less  praise  than  this 
Tyrian  prince.  Such  a  wife  as  Ruth  would  have  been  pre- 
ferred by  Boaz  to  a  royal  diadem ;  yet  he  would  not  take  her  to 
himself  to  wife  whilst  there  lived  another  man  who  had  a  pre- 
ferable claim  to  her,  if  he  was  willing  to  make  use  of  his  right. 
We  ought  to  Mook  every  man  not  on  his  own  things  only,  but 
every  man  also  on  the  things  of  others.' 

And  now,  it  is  true  that  Lam  thy  near  kinsman.  Purse-proud 
men  are  ashamed  of  their  poor  relations,  but  Boaz  takes  pleas- 
ure in  being  accounted  the  near  kinsman  of  such  a  virtuous 
woman  as  Ruth.  If  we  are  ashamed  of  virtuous  and  godly 
friends  because  they  are  poor,  we  would  have  been  ashamed  to 


CHAP.  III.  10-18.  OF   RUTH. 


Ill 


acknowledge  Jesus  as  a  friend,  when  he  lived  in  poverty  upon 
earth. 

Howbeit  there  is  a  Unsinan  nearer  than  L  There  are  different 
degrees  of  relation,  all  of  which  have  their  respective  duties 
and  their  respective  rights  belonging  to  them.  We  sin  either 
by  neglecting  any  of  the  duties  of  these  relations,  or  by  ar- 
rogating the  rights  peculiar  to  nearer  relations.  A  brother  or 
an  uncle  are  near  relations;  but  neither  of  them  can  claim  the 
authority  of  a  father,  except  in  extraordinary  cases,  when  par- 
ticular circumstances  have  devolved  the  autliority  of  a  parent 
upon  them.  Boaz  would  do  every  thing  to  serve  Euth  that 
became  her  nearest  relation,  but  one;  and  this  one  thing  he 
declined,  because  he  had  no  right  to  do  it.  He  would  not  in- 
trude into  the  rights  of  another  man,  till  they  were  voluntarily 
surrendered.  As  every  man  ought  to  abide  in  his  own  calling, 
so  we  all  ought  to  keep  our  own  places  in  society.  Much  of  the 
unhappiness,  and  many  of  the  sins  of  social  life,  originate  in 
that  assuming  and  meddling  disposition,  which  renders  some 
people  a  pest  to  their  neighbours,  and  still  more  to  themselves. 

'Tarry  this  night,  and  thou  shalt  know  whether  thy  nearest 
kinsman  chooses  to  do  the  part  of  kinsman  to  thee.'  Although 
we  must  not  be  busy-bodies,  yet  we  act  a  kind  part  to  our 
friends  when  we  take  an  interest  in  their  affairs,  and,  at  their 
desire,  understood  or  expressed,  transact  such  of  them  as  they 
cannot  so  well  transact  for  themselves.  Ruth  might  have  gone 
to  her  nearest  kinsman,  and  required  him  either  to  marry  her 
or  renounce  his  right;  but  Boaz  saves  her  the  trouble,  and  we 
may  say  of  him  as  he  said  of  Ruth,  that  his  kindness  in  the 
end  was  greater  than  at  the  beginning.  It  was  a  great  pleas- 
sure  to  him  to  '  cause  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy.' 

'Tarry  this  night,  and  I  will  transact  t\\Q  business  in  the 
morning.'  Boaz  would  do  with  his  might  what  his  hand  found 
to  do.  He  would  not  cause  Ruth  to  wait  in  suspense  a  single 
hour  beyond  what  was  necessary  for  bringing  the  most  im- 
portant business  of  her  life  to  a  conclusion.  One  of  the  English 
kings  was  called  Ethelred  the  Unready,  because  we  was  al- 
ways too  late  with  his  preparations  to  oppose  the  enemies  of 
his  country.     O  that  men  could  know  and   attend  to  their 


112  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

duties  in  the  proper  season!  Then  would  they  be  like  trees 
j)hinted  bv  the  rivers  of  water,  whose  leaf  fadeth  not,  and  whose 
fruit  does  not  fail.  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  all  iniquity, 
tiiat  M-e  m'vrht  be  ever  ready  for  every  good  work. 

'If  he  will  perform  the  part  of  a  kinsman,  well,  (or,  it  is 
good),  let  him  perform  the  part  of  a  kinsman.^  But  if  he 
}>erform  the  })art  of  a  kinsman,  Boaz  must  give  up  all  thoughts 
of  marrving  the  woman  who  stood  so  high  in  his  estimation, 
and  in  the  opinion  of  all  his  fellow-citizens.  True;  but  if  he 
is  disappointed  of  a  virtuous  wife,  he  keeps  a  good  conscience. 
A  good  wife  is  a  good  thing,  but  a  good  conscience  is  better. 
If  you  could  obtain  the  best  wife  in  the  world  by  injustice, 
you  make  a  very  foolish  bargain. 

^We  are  glad,'  says  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  'when  we  are 
weak,  and  ye  are  strong.'  If  Boaz  must  see  Ruth  the  wife  of 
another  man,  he  will  rejoice  in  his  happiness,  and  in  the 
liappiness  which  he  hoped  Ruth  would  enjoy  in  his  house.  We 
should  learn  to  rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice,  when  we  have 
reason  on  our  own  account  to  mourn. 

'But  if  he  will  not  perform  the  part  of  a  kinsman,  I  will 
perform  the  part  of  a  kinsman  unto  thee.'  You  see  he  does  not 
think  the  worse  of  Ruth  for  lying  down  at  his  feet.  He  Avas 
governed  by  that  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil. 

^l.s'  tJie  Lord  Uvcth.  Oaths  are  not  to  be  sworn  on  trifling 
occasions.  Boaz  accounted  the  present  an  occasion  of  sufficient 
importance  to  justify  his  taking  the  name  of  God  into  his  mouth. 
His  word  might  very  well  have  been  believed  without  an  oath; 
but  he  wished  to  give  full  satisfaction  to  Ruth  about  his  in- 
tentions, that  her  mind  might  be  set  perfectly  at  ease,  and  that 
she  might  patiently  wait  the  event  without  putting  herself  to 
any  farther  trouble. 

It  is  a  sign  of  a  profane  spirit  not  to  fear  an  oath.  It  is 
vain,  scrupulously  to  be  afraid  of  an  oath  when  we  are  called 
to  swear. 

Lie  down  until  the  morning.  Boaz  probably  wished  that  she 
had  not  come  to  lay  herself  down ;  but  since  she  was  laid  at 
his  ^iniiy  he  did  not  think  it  safe  for  her  to  leave  him  till  the 
morning.     He  did  not  wish  her  to  expose  herself  to  the  fears 


CHAP.  III.  10-18.  OF    RUTH.  113 

and  perils  of  the  night,  nor  did  he  think  it  prudent  eitlier  to 
go  with  her,  or  to  send  one  of  his  servants  to  attend  her,  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night,  to  her  mother's  house.  In  con- 
sidering what  is  fit  to  be  done  in  particular  businesses,  it  is 
often  necessary  to  attend  to  existing  circumstances.  Certain 
situations  and  circumstances  may  render  it  necessary  and  wise 
to  do  those  things  which,  in  different  situations,  it  Avould  be 
very  unwise  to  do ;  as  you  see  in  PauPs  directions  about  those 
points,  concerning  which  the  Corinthian  believers  consulted 
him  by  letter;  1  Cor.  vii.  10. 

Verse  14. — And  she  lay  at  his  feet  until  the  morning;  and 
she  rose  up  before  one  could  knoio  another.  And  he  said,  Let  it 
not  be  known  that  a  woman  came  into  the  floor. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  do  nothing  that  will  not  bear  the  light. 
But  if  we  have  done  any  thing  that  may  expose  us  to  unjust 
suspicions  if  it  were  known,  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  integrity 
to  conceal  it,  provided  it  can  be  done  without  falsehood  or 
dissimulation.  Although  Boaz  was  fully  persuaded  that  Ruth 
came  with  no  evil  intention  to  the  floor,  and  was  conscious 
that  their  mutual  converse  was  innocent,  he  did  not  know  what 
ill-natured  constructions  might  be  put  upon  the  conduct  of 
either  of  them  by  some  of  their  neighbours.  ^All  men  have 
not  faith,'  says  Paul ;  and  we  know  too  well  that  all  men  have 
not  charity. 

It  is  necessary  for  us  at  all  times  to  cut  off  occasions  from 
those  who  would  speak  reproachfully.  It  was  necessary  es- 
pecially that  a  stranger  and  proselyte  should  be  careful  of  her 
character,  and  above  all,  a  stranger  whom  a  respectable  citizen 
might  claim  for  a  wife.  If  matters  had  been  so  conducted, 
that  Ruth's  behaviour  had  excited  suspicions  against  her,  how 
could  Boaz  have  proposed  a  marriage  with  her  to  her  nearest 
kinsman?  It  might  have  been  supposed,  that  he  only  wished 
for  a  refusal,  that  he  might  take  her  to  himself.  But,  highly 
as  he  esteemed  Ruth,  he  would  take  no  steps  to  obtain  her,  on 
which  he  could  not  reflect  with  pleasure. 

Verse  15. — Also  he  said,  Bring  the  veil  that  thoii  hast  upon 
thee,  and  hold  it.     And  when  she  held  it,  he  measured  six  meas- 
ures of  barley,  and  laid  it  on  her;  and  she  went  into  the  city. 
8 


114  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

This,  some  may  say,  was  a  strange  present.  Who  ever  laid 
a  load  of  barley  upon  the  shoulders  of  a  young  woman  whom 
he  wished  to  marry,  as  a  proof  of  his  affection?  Might  he  not 
have  given  her  rings,  or  nose  jewels,  or  some  Babylonish  gar- 
ment, rather  than  a  load  of  grain  fit  to  be  laid  on  the  shoulders 
of  a  beggar? 

It  may  be  answered,  that  Boaz  could  better  judge  than  we, 
what  presents  were  fit  to  be  made  to  Ruth.  Such  questions 
will  be  asked  by  those  only,  whose  acquaintance  reaches  not 
beyond  the  manners  of  their  own  time,  or  of  their  own  people. 
If  you  have  read  the  most  ancient  of  uninspired  books,  you 
will  find  that  it  was  not,  in  the  days  of  old,  accounted  incon- 
sistent with  the  dignity  of  heroes  and  kings  to  kill  and  roast 
their  own  meat.  If  you  read  the  accounts  of  recent  travellers 
to  the  East,  you  will  find  that  great  men  think  they  pay  a 
compliment  to  strangers  of  distinction,  by  sending  them  pres- 
ents of  provisions,  even  of  the  kind  that  is  most  common  and 
cheap. 

Lovers  amongst  us,  it  is  true,  do  not  give  presents  of  barley 
to  their  mistresses ;  yet  barley  is  more  precious  than  any  of 
the  trinkets  which  the  customs  of  modern  times  have  intro- 
duced, as  proper  testimonies  of  regard  to  the  objects  of  love. 
When  our  Lord  fed  a  multitude  with  barley  loaves,  he  multi- 
})lied  them,  but  he  did  not  change  them  into  loaves  of  fine 
wheat.  Ruth,  and  her  mother  Naomi,  had  learned  by  poverty 
to  set  a  value  upon  those  kinds  of  grain  which  fulness  of 
bread,  and  abundance  of  idleness,  dispose  too  many  to  despise. 
Those  who  must  live  on  barley  bread  are  monsters  of  ingrati- 
tude, if  they  receive  not  their  portion  of  the  good  things  of 
this  world  with  thankfulness  to  the  Author  and  Preserver  of 
their  being.  The  apostle  Paul  was  often  not  so  well  supplied 
with  food  as  the  poorest  of  our  cottagers,  and  yet  his  heart 
M'as  warm  with  gratitude  to  Him  who  gives  us  all  thing  richly 
to  enjoy  ;  1  Tim.  vi.  17. 

He  laid  it  on  her^  and  she  went  into  the  eity. — She  received 
the  barley  in  her  veil,  and  carried  it  to  the  house  of  her  mother- 
in-law.  She  disdained  not  the  present.  She  did  not  think 
iierself  too  fine  a  lady  to  carry  it,  although  she  hoped  soon  to 


CHAP.  III.  10-18.  OF    RUTH.  II5 

be  the  wife  of  ^a  mighty  man  of  wealth/  God  liad  given  her 
health  and  vigour,  and  she  was  not  ashamed  to  use  her  strength 
in  those  useful  employments,  which  may  perhaps  appear  too 
mean  to  some  of  the  lowest  class  of  society  amongst  us.  It  is 
said  of  a  certain  Spanish  king,  that  one  of  his  attendants,  see- 
ing him  one  day  employed  in  a  piece  of  mechanical  work,  took 
the  liberty  of  observing,  that  such  employments  were  fitter 
for  a  carpenter's  apprentice,  than  a  king.  ^Nature,'  replied 
the  monarch,  Mias  given  hands  to  kings  as  well  as  to  other 
men,  and  I  know  no  law  that  should  hinder  me  from  using 
them.' 

Verse  1 6.— And  when  she  came  to  her  mother-in-law,  she  said. 
Who  art  thou,  my  daughter  f  And  she  told  her  all  that  the  man 
had  done  to  her. 

Naomi  doubtless  waited  with  impatience  th-e  time  when  Ruth 
might  be  expected  to  return,  but  was  surprised  to  see  her  come 
at  a  time  she  was  not  expecting  her,  when  the  light  began  to 
appear  in  the  heavens.  The  present,  too,  which  Euth  carried, 
increased  her  wonder,  which  she  expressed  in  these  words. 
Who  art  thou,  my  daughter?  We  sometimes  use  a  like  ex- 
pression. Is  this  you  f  when  a  friend  pays  us  an  unexpected 
visit. 

And  she  told  her  all  that  the  man  had  done  to  her.  Ruth  used 
to  hide  nothing  that  was  interesting  to  herself  from  her  affec- 
tionate mother-in-law ;  and  was,  no  doubt,  happy  to  inform  her 
of  any  thing  that  would  give  her  satisfaction. 

Let  no  young  woman  deal  in  secrecy  and  concealment.  Be- 
ware of  doing  any  thing  that  you  would  not  wish  your  affec- 
tionate mother  to  know ;  and,  if  you  have  done  any  thing  unfit 
to  be  known,  make  not  falsehood  your  refuge.  Ruth  had  no 
reason  to  be  afraid  of  telling  her  mother-in-law  what  passed 
between  herself  and  Boaz.  '  He  who  doth  truth,  cometh  to  the 
light,'  for  he  is  not  afraid  to  have  'his  works  made  manifest.' 
Verse  17. — And  she  said.  These  six  measures  of  barley  gave 
he  me;  for  he  said  to  me,  go  not  empty  unto  thy  mother-in-law. 

Ruth  could  not  conceal  the  bounty  of  Boaz,  for  her  heart 
overflowed  with  gratitude;  and  she  mentions  it  to  Naomi  in 
language  that  would  highly  gratify  the  good  old  woman.    Al- 


IIQ  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

tiiough  Naomi  had  Ruth's  happiness  only  in  view,  as  her  own 
connection  with  the  world  was  nearly  at  an  end,  yet  she  must 
have  been  pk'ascd  with  the  attentions  paid  to  her  by  her  friends. 
You  cannot  restore  youthful  vigour  to  your  aged  friends.  You 
cannot  give  them  a  relish  for  youthful  enjoyments.  Yet  you 
mav  console  tJiem  by  tliose  kind  attentions  to  which  they  are 
well  entitled  from  those  young  friends  whom  they  love. 

Verse  18. —  Then  said  she,  Sit  still,  my  daughter,  until  thou 
know  hoic  the  matter  icilljaU:  for  the  man  will  not  be  in  rest,  until 
he  have  finished  the  thing  this  day. 

'There  is  a  time  to  speak,  and  a  time  to  be  silent;'  a  time 
to  act,  and  a  time  to  sit  still.  Ruth  had  now  done  all  that  her 
mother  thought  necessary.  She  may  now  sit  still,  for  her  affairs 
are  in  the  hand  of  one  who  will  take  care  to  manage  them  in 
the  most  expeditious  manner,  and  to  bring  them  to  a  happy 
conclusion. 

Some  cannot  be  persuaded  to  act  when  activity  is  necessary; 
others  cannot  be  induced  to  sit  still  when  they  have  done  all 
that  is  fit  to  be  done.  Their  anxiety  keeps  tliem  in  a  constant 
bustle.  They  neither  can  be  at  rest,  nor  suffer  others  around 
them  to  rest.  '  It  is  vain  for  men  to  rise  up  early,  and  sit  up 
late,  to  eat  tlK!  bread  of  sorrow,'  and  to  refuse  to  their  minds 
and  bodies  their  necessary  repose.  Let  us  not  neglect  our  duty 
about  our  secular  as  well  as  our  spiritual  interests.  Slothful- 
uess  is  reprobated  both  by  reason  and  religion ;  but  let  us  still 
remember  our  Lord's  gracious  injunction,  'Take  no  thought,' 
or  rather,  Take  no  anxious  thought,  '  for  the  morrow.'  We 
ought  never  to  say  to  our  souls,  ^Take  your  rest,  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry;'  but  we  have  too  often  reason  to  say,  'Why  art 
tlioM  disquieted  within  me?     Hope  thou  in  God.' 

Sit  still  until  thou  know  how  the  matter  will  fall.  Ruth  might 
well  be  supposed  to  entertain  uneasy  thoughts  about  a  busi- 
ness that  was  to  determine  the  fortune  of  her  future  days.  She 
did  not  know  whether  she  was  to  be  the  wife  of  Boaz,  or  of 
lier  nearer  kinsman.  But  what  could  she  do  by  the  indulgence 
of  disquieting  thoughts?  She  could  not  alter  the  lav/s  or 
customs  of  the  country.  She  could  not  do  any  thing  more 
than  hhe  had  already  done,  to  procure  for  herself  that  alliance 


CHAP.  in.  10-18.  OF  RUTH.  *  117 

which  she  desired.  What  could  she  now  do  better  than  to  sit 
still,  resigning  herself  to  the  providence  of  God.  Things  that 
will  happen,  cannot  be  prevented  by  our  utmost  solicitude. 
Things  not  appointed  will  never  take  place,  if  all  the  care  and 
all  the  toil  of  men  and  angels  were  jointly  employed  to  bring 
them  about.  For  Svho  is  ho  that  saith,  and  it  cometh  to  pass, 
when  the  Lord  commandeth  it  not?  Out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Most  High  proceedeth  not  evil  and  good.' 

For  the  man  will  not  he  in  rest,  until  he  have  finished  the  thing 
this  day.  Naomi  knew  Boaz  to  be  a  man  of  wisdom  and  ac- 
tivity, a  generous  and  honest  man,  who  would  not  rest  till  he 
had  accomplished  the  business  in  hand.  Ruth,  having  such  a 
friend  to  transact  her  business,  had  no  occasion  to  give  her- 
self any  more  trouble.  A  faithful  friend  is  the  most  precdous 
blessing  which  this  world  can  afford.  ^He  that  sendeth  a 
message  by  the  hand  of  a  fool,  cutteth  off  the  feet,  and  drinketh 
damage';  but  ^as  a  cloud  of  dew  in  the  heat  of  harvest,  so  is  a 
faithful  messenger  to  them  that  send  him,'  for  he  refresheth 
the  soul  of  his  employers. 

Do  you  profess  to  be  a  friend?  Show  yourself  friendly  in 
your  conduct.  Be  not  backward  to  engage  in  the  concerns  of 
your  friend,  when  you  are  qualified  to  manage  them  to  better 
advantage  than  he  can  do,  or  to  give  him  friendly  assistance 
to  manage  them  for  himself.  When  you  have  undertaken  the 
management  of  any  affair,  make  no  needless  delays;  for  Miope 
deferred,'  though  not  crushed,  ^  maketh  the  heart  sick.'  It 
was  the  known  character  of  Boaz  that  inspired  Naomi  and  Ruth 
with  such  confidence  in  his  good  offices.  Why  should  you 
forfeit  the  thanks  of  the  services  you  mean  to  do,  by  wearying 
out  the  patience,  and  perhaps  disconcerting  the  plans,  of  those 
who  trust  to  your  friendship?  Defer  nothing  till  to-morrow, 
that  may  as  well  be  done  to  day,  either  for  yourselves  or  for 
your  friends.  MVho  knows  what  a  day  will  bring  forth?'  It 
is  said  of  Richard  II.  king  of  England,  that  he  lost  his  crown 
and  life  by  being  a  day  too  late  in  coming  to  join  his  army  in 
Wales. 

When  you  have  tried  friends,  trust  their  friendship  as  far  as 
men  can  be  trusted.     David  was  not  afraid  to  put  his  life  into 


1 1 8  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  X. 

JonathaD's  hands,  when  Saul,  for  Jonathan's  interest,  was  seek- 
ing his  destruction. 

Have  you  no  friends  to  manage  your  troublesome  affairs,  or 
to  direct  your  management  of  them?  Say  not  so,  as  long  as 
vou  are  })ermitted  to  say  concerning  Christ,  ^This  is  my  be- 
loved, and  this  is  my  friend!'  'Commit  your  works  unto  the 
Lord,  and  your  thoughts  shall  be  established.  Be  not  anx- 
iously careful  about  any  thing;  but  in  every  thing,  by  prayer 
and  supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God,  and  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  un- 
derstanding, shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ 
Jesus/ 


CHAP.  IV.  1-10.  OF   RUTH.  119 


LECTURE  XI 


BOAZ,  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  TEN  ELDERS  OF  BETHLEHEM,  PROCURF^ 
THE  CONSENT  OF   RUTH'S  NEAREST  KINSMAN  TO  HIS  MARRIAGE 
WITH  HER. 

CHAPTER  iv.  1-10. 

Verse  1. — Then  went  Boaz  up  to  the  gate^  and  sat  him  down 
there;  and  behold,  the  kinsman  of  whom  Boaz  spake  came  by;  unto 
whom  he  said,  Ho,  such  a  one!  turn  aside,  sit  down  here.  And 
he  turned  aside,  and  sat  down, 

^Marriage  is  honourable  in  all/  but  some  make  it  dis- 
honourable to  themselves,  by  being  unequally  yoked,  or  by 
reprehensible  methods  of  entering  into  the  state  of  marriage. 
By  dishonest  means  they  gain  the  affections  of  their  partners, 
or  transgress  the  good  and  necessary  laws  of  their  country  by 
clandestine  engagements.  Surely  there  is  no  business  in  life 
which  ought  to  be  transacted  with  a  closer  attention  to  the  re- 
vealed will  of  God,  than  one  on  which  so  much  of  the  happi- 
ness or  misery  of  life  depends.  We  are  so  far  from  acting 
like  Christians,  that  we  proceed  upon  atheistical  principles,  if 
we  expect  any  more  joy  from  changing  our  condition  than 
God  is  pleased  to  give  us.  We  will  find  satisfaction  or  dis- 
quiet, happiness  or  misery,  in  marriage,  according  to  the  will 
of  our  Maker;  and  therefore  in  this,  and  in  all  our  ways,  let 
us  acknowledge  Him,  and  he  will  direct  our  steps.  *If  a  man's 
ways  please  the  Lord,  he  maketh  even  his  enemies  to  be  at 
peace  with  him.'  If  a  man's  ways  do  not  please  the  Lord,  he 
can  set  his  friends  at  variance  with  him,  and  poison  the  streams 
of  his  felicity  with  bitterness,  lamentation,  and  woe. 

Boaz  proceeds  with  candour  and  openness  in  the  business  of 
his  marriage.     He  would  not  move  a  step  in  it,  without  letting 


120  THE  HISTOEY  LECT.  XI. 

his  intentions  be  known  to  the  only  man  that  had  a  right  to 
throw  obstructions  in  his  way;  and  transacts  the  matter  with 
him  in  the  presence  of  ten  of  the  most  respectable  men  in 
Bethlehem.  Thus  he  ^provides  for  things  honest,  not  only  in 
the  sight  of  God,  but  in  the  sight  of  all  men/ 

He  goes  to  the  gate  of  the  city.  The  gate  was  the  place  of 
concourse  in  ancient  times.  It  was  the  place  where  courts 
were  held,  and  where  the  most  important  affairs  were  discussed. 
The  near  kinsman  seems  to  have  been  called  off  his  way  by 
Boaz,  after  he  took  his  seat  at  the  gate.  The  Lord  brought 
him  to  the  place  where  Boaz  wished  to  meet  with  him.  Thus, 
when  Abraham's  servant  ^  was  in  the  way,  the  Lord  led  him  to 
the  house  of  his  master's  brethren.^  Things  the  most  accidental 
to  us,  are  regulated  by  God. 

Ho  !  such  a  one.  Did  not  the  sacred  writer  know  the  man's 
name?  Undoubtedly.  But  he  seems  to  have  concealed  it  from 
us,  with  the  design  of  burying  it  in  oblivion.  The  man  ap- 
pears to  have  been  more  solicitous  than  he  ought  to  have  been 
about  the  preservation  of  his  own  name,  and  it  is  suffered  to 
perish.  He  would  not  raise  up  a  name  to  Mahlon,  that  he 
might  not  mar  that  inheritance  by  which  his  own  name  was 
to  be  preserved.  But  the  name  of  Mahlon  comes  down  to  the 
latest  posterity,  with  the  name  of  Boaz ;  while  none  can  tell 
what  was  the  name  of  the  man  who  was  so  anxious  to  avoid 
any  thing  that  might  impair  the  lustre  of  his  family. 

And  he  turned  aside,  and  sat  down. 

Verse  2. — And  he  took  ten  men  of  the  elders  of  the  city,  and 
said,  Sit  ye  down  here,     jind  they  sat  down. 

AVhether  he  sent  for  them  before  or  after  he  sat  down,  we 
are  not  told.  He  did  not  proceed  to  business  till  he  had 
abundance  of  witnesses  to  attest  the  proceedings,  and  of  coun- 
sellors or  judges  to  determine  difficulties,  if  any  should  occur. 
*  In  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses,'  says  the  law,  ^shall 
every  word  be  established.'  '  In  the  multitude  of  counsellors,' 
says  the  wise  man,  *is  safety.' 

Verse  3. — And  he  said  unto  the  kinsman:  Naomi,  that  is  come 
again  out  of  the  country  of  Moah,  selkth  a  jjarcel  of  land  which 
was  our  brotlier  EUmelech's: 


CHAP.  IV.  1-10.  OF   RUTH.  121 

Naomi  was  a  poor  widow,  and  yet  she  had  a  parcel  of  laud 
to  sell.  It  was  doubtless  so  encumbered,  that  hitherto  she 
could  not  derive  any  benefit  from  it  since  her  return  from  the 
land  of  Moab.  It  was  her  interest  to  sell  it,  that  she  might 
draw  from  it  some  help  to  her  present  subsistence ;  and  it  was 
highly  proper  that  the  first  offer  of  it  should  be  made  to  that 
kinsman,  to  whom  the  office  of  redeeming  inheritances  be- 
longed, according  to  the  law.  *  He  that  hath  friends  must  show 
himself  friendly '  when  he  has  the  power  and  opportunity;  and, 
when  he  is  in  distress,  may  reasonably  expect  succour  from  his 
friends. 

^This  laud  pertained  to  our  brother  Elimelech/  said  Boaz. 
All  near  relations  were  called  brethren  amongst  the  Israelites. 
By  calling  Elimelech  their  brother  on  the  present  occasion, 
Boaz  insinuates  the  obligation  lying  upon  them  to  deal  kindly 
with  Naomi.  When  she  was  compelled  to  sell  the  land  of  her 
deceased  husband,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  his  surviving 
brethren  would  give  her  better  terms  than  strangers.  If  they 
did  not  give  a  larger  price,  they  might  soften  the  necessity  that 
urged  her  to  sell,  by  attentions  and  favours  of  no  great  cost  to 
themselves. 

Verse  4. — And  I  thought  to  advertise  thee,  saying,  Buy  it  he- 
fore  the  inhabitants,  and  before  the  elders  of  my  people.  If  thou 
wilt  redeem  it,  redeem  it;  but  if  thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  then  tell 
me,  that  I  may  know;  for  there  is  none  to  redeem  it  besides  thee, 
and  I  am  after  thee.     And  he  said,  I  will  redeem  it. 

Boaz  plainly  intimates  his  intention  of  buying  Elimelech's 
land,  if  his  nearest  kinsman  found  it  inconvenient  for  himself 
to  do  it ;  but  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  give  advertisement,  in  the 
first  place,  to  him  who  had  the  best  right  to  do  it  if  he  chose. 
The  money  of  Boaz  was  as  good  as  his  friend^s  money ;  but  it 
might  be  an  advantage  to  possess  the  land,  although  the  full 
price  were  given  for  it,  and  it  seemed  agreeable  to  tlic  Jewish 
law  that  the  nearest  kinsman  should  have  his  option.  We 
must  not  go  beyond,  or  defraud  our  brother  in  any  matter 
great  or  small,  nor  do  any  thing  that  has  the  appearance  of 
taking  an  advantage  of  him.  AYhen  land  is  to  be  set  in  tack, 
artful  and  clandestine  means  to  obtain  possession  of  it  are  sus- 


122  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  XI. 

picious.  The  master  is  under  no  obligation  to  let  it  to  the 
former  tenant.  He  may  have  justly  incurred  his  landlord's 
displeasure.  He  may  be  less  qualified  to  make  the  land  pro- 
ductive than  some  of  his  neighbours,  or  he  may  be  unwilling 
to  give  a  reasonable  advance  in  the  rent.  But  let  no  unfair 
advantage  be  taken  of  him  by  his  neighbours.  If  they  find 
themselves  at  liberty  to  enter  in  bargain  with  his  master,  they 
ought  not  to  behave  towards  the  former  tenant  in  any  other 
way  than  they  would  think  it  reasonable  for  their  own  neigh- 
bours to  behave  towards  themselves  in  similar  circumstances. 
Fair  proceedings  seldom  need  concealment.  ^Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them.' 
"We  ought  not  to  account  ourselves  upright  men,  if  this  maxim 
does  not  regulate  every  part  of  our  behaviour. 

There  is  none  to  redeem  it  besides  thee,  and  larn  next  unto  thee. 
There  was  none  nearer  in  relation  than  this  kinsman,  but  Boaz 
was  next  in  degree.  ^  There  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer 
than  a  brother.'  Such  a  friend  was  Boaz  to  Kuth,  and  yet  he 
would  not  claim  the  rights  of  the  nearest  kinsman,  but  was  in 
readiness  to  perform  his  duties,  if  he  declined  the  performance. 
We  ought  to  invade  no  man's  rights,  but  to  perform  the  duties 
belonging  to  every  man  in  his  place  and  relation.  Nor  are  we 
always  to  confine  ourselves,  in  performing  the  duty  of  rela- 
tions, to  those  which  in  ordinary  oases  belong  to  our  degree  of 
relation.  An  uncle  may  be  called,  by  existing  circumstances, 
to  perform  the  duty  of  a  father,  or  a  nephew  to  perform  the 
duty  of  a  son.  There  are  some  to  whom  it  is  a  great  loss  to 
have  near  relations  careless  of  their  duty,  or  not  well  qualified 
to  perform  it.  They  are  neglected  by  other  relations,  who 
would  bo  kind  to  them  if  they  did  not  trust  the  care  of  them 
to  those  who  are  more  nearly  connected ;  or  perhaps  they  are 
glad  to  have  a  i>retext  from  the  nearer  relationship  of  others, 
to  excuse  themselves  from  troublesome  duties.  Boaz  was  ready, 
either  to  redeem  the  inheritance  of  Mahlon,  or  to  leave  it  to 
be  redeemed  by  a  nearer  kinsman. 

And  lie  said,  I  mil  redeem  it.  His  meaning  was,  that  he 
would  give  the  money  necessary  for  the  purchase.  But,  when 
he  heard  the  conditions  of  the  bargain,  he  declined  it. 


CHAP.  IV.  1-10.  OF   RUTH.  123 

Verse  5. — Then  said  Boaz,  What  day  thou  buy  est  the  field  of 
the  hand  of  Naomi j  thou  must  buy  it  also  of  Ruth,  the  MoabitesSj 
the  wife  of  the  dead,  to  raise  up  the  name  of  the  dead  upon  his 
inheritance. 

When  a  man  dies,  his  wife  must  lose  his  society,  and  the 
benefits  of  his  industry ;  but  let  her  not  lose  what  she  has  a 
right  to  claim,  her  portion  of  the  common  goods,  and  the  friend- 
ship of  his  relations.  The  rights  of  the  widow  are  protected 
and  her  injuries  are  avenged  by  Him  who  is  4he  judge  of  the 
widow,  and  the  father  of  the  fatherless,  in  his  holy  habitation.' 
Whatever  necessity  Naomi  was  under  of  selling  the  land  of 
Elimelech,  she  would  not  deprive  Ruth  of  her  just  claim  upon 
it.  He  who  buys  the  land,  must  marry  Ruth,  to  raise  up  the 
name  of  her  deceased  husband. 

*  The  dead  know  not  any  thing,  neither  have  they  any  more 
a  reward;  for  the  memory  of  them  is  forgotten,  and  their  love, 
and  their  hatred,  and  their  envy,  is  now  perished :  neither 
have  they  any  more  a  portion  for  ever  in  any  thing  that  is 
done  under  the  sun.'  Yet  their  memory  is  to  be  respected  by 
surviving  relations ;  and  the  respect  due  to  their  memories  is 
to  be  held  the  more  sacred  that  they  have  no  more  a  portion 
in  any  thing.  When  they  have  lost  every  other  thing  earthly, 
let  them  not  be  bereaved  of  what  may  still  be  reserved,  the  es- 
teem to  which  their  memory  is  entitled.  They  cannot  hear  the 
voice  of  friendship;  but  it  was  their  wish,  whilst  they  were 
with  us,  to  be  remembered  with  kindness,  when  they  would 
no  longer  enjoy  our  company.  And,  when  we  must  die,  it 
would  aggravate  our  affliction  to  have  reason  to  think  that  our 
memorial  will  perish  with  us.  God  provided,  by  a  law,  for 
the  preservation  of  the  name  of  those  who  died  childless.  ^If 
brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of  them  die,  and  have  no 
child,  the  wife  of  the  dead  shall  not  marry  unto  a  gtraugor.  Her 
husband's  brother  shall  go  in  unto  her,  and  take  her  to  him 
to  wife,  and  perform  the  duty  of  an  husband's  brother  to  her; 
and  it  shall  be,  that  the  first  born  which  she  beareth  shall 
succeed  in  the  name  of  his  brother  which  is  dead,  that  his 
name  be  not  put  out  of  Israel.'  Deut.  xxv.  5,  6. 

This  law  was  not  exactly  applicable  to  the  case  in  question. 


124  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  XL 

The  next  kinsman  of  Elimelech  was,  probably,  not  his  brother- 
(-•crinan,  nor  did  he  live  in  the  house  together  with  him.  But 
a  custom,  founded  on  the  spirit  of  the  law,  seems  to  have  given 
the  nearest  kinsman  a  right,  by  proscription,  to  the  refusal  of 
a  childless  widow ;  and  to  the  widow,  a  right  to  expect  the 
nearest  kinsman  in  marriage,  unless  some  considerable  objec- 
tions, from  her  former  behaviour,  or  from  particular  circum- 
stances, rendered  the  connection  ineligible. 

This  law  was  peculiar  to  the  Israelites.  Those  who  die 
childless  amongst  us,  must  continue  so  for  ever.  But  we  en- 
joy clearer  revelations  than  the  ancient  church,  of  the  felicities 
of  the  other  world.  We  need  not  greatly  wish  to  have  our 
names  registered  in  the  records  of  any  city  upon  earth,  or  in 
the  genealogy  of  any  house.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  us  to 
have  our  names  Svritten  amongst  the  living  in  Jerusalem';  and, 
if  we  have  begotten  any  children  by  the  gospel,  they  ^will  be 
to  us  for  a  name  and  a  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  Christ.' 
This  honour  is  to  all  those  saints  who  turn  any  sinner  from 
the  error  of  his  ways,  though  not  invested  with  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel ;  James  v.  19,  20. 

Verse  6. — And  the  kinsman  said,  I  cannot  redeem  it  for  my- 
self,  lest  I  ma)'  mine  own  inheritance:  redeem  thou  my  right  to 
thyself;  for  I  cannot  redeem  it. 

Unless  we  knew  more  than  the  sacred  historian  has  thought 
it  necessary  to  tell  us  concerning  the  circumstances  of  this  near 
kinsman,  we  cannot  say  whether  his  objection  to  the  marriage 
with  Ruth  was  founded  in  truth  and  reason,  or  whether  his 
dislike  to  the  match  prompted  him  to  make  use  of  an  evasion. 
It  is  likely  that  he  had  a  family  by  another  wife,  and  that  he 
was  afraid  of  injuring  it,  by  laying  out  money  on  a  possession 
that  would  not  descend  to  them. 

Young  persons  should  not  enter  into  the  marriage  relation 
without  serious  consideration.  This  is  still  more  necessary 
for  widowers  with  young  families.  By  rashness  in  entering 
an<-\v  into  the  married  state,  they  may  bring  great  disquiet  to 
tiiemselvcs,  and  may  incapacitate  themselves  to  do  for  their 
families  what  they  had  a  right  to  expect.  Yet  it  is  to  be 
feared,  that  too  many  decline  the  married  state  through  dis- 


CHAP.  IV.  1-10.  OF   RUTH.  125 

trust  of  divine  Providence,  or  through  unwillingness  to  foreo-o 
some  of  those  gratifications  which  the  expense  and  care  of  a 
family  would  oblige  them  to  relinquish.  Paul  speaks  of  a 
time,  when,  ^  for  the  present  distress,'  it  was  not  good  to  marry; 
and,  at  any  time,  some  are  in  circumstances  which  make  it 
expedient  for  them  to  continue  in  the  single  state.  But  when 
men  find  the  temptations  of  a  single  life  dangerous  to  their 
souls,  and  yet  abide  in  it  to  avoid  the  expenses  of  the  reduc- 
tion in  their  style  of  living,  which  marriage  would  render 
necessary,  they  expose  themselves  to  the  snares  of  the  devil, 
by  neglecting  those  precautions  against  sin  which  human  cor- 
ruption renders  necessary.  What  sins  and  sorrows  to  young 
men  might  often  have  been  prevented  by  prudent  marriages ! 

Bedeem  thou  my  right  to  thyself,  for  I  cannot  redeem  it.  Al- 
though this  kinsman  did  not  choose  to  marry  Ruth,  he  was  so 
honest  as  not  to  wish  to  hinder  her  marriage  with  another.  He 
w^as  unlike  to  some  persons,  who,  whilst  they  are  undetermined 
about  marrying  the  objects  of  their  attachment,  use  indirect 
means  to  hinder  them  from  marrying  other  j)ersons  with  whom 
they  might  be  happy.  Nothing  can  be  a  greater  indication  of 
a  selfish  and  grovelling  mind,  than  for  a  man  to  work  him- 
self into  the  affections  of  a  young  woman  so  far  as  to  hinder 
her  from  listening  to  the  addresses  of  others,  whilst  he  is  bal- 
ancing in  his  own  mind  whether  he  will  marry  her  or  not,  and 
behaves  in  such  a  dubious  manner,  that  expectations  are  raised, 
whilst  positive  engagements  are  avoided.  Let  all  young  wo- 
men guard  against  such  insidious  enemies  of  their  peace.  A 
man  cannot  be  truly  in  love  with  a  woman,  when  his  self-love 
is  so  strong,  that  he  attends  only  to  his  own  comfort  and  in- 
terest, and  cares  not  what  pain  he  inflicts  upon  her  to  whom 
he  pretends  a  regard. 

Verses  7,  8. — Note  this  was  the  manner  in  former  time  in 
Israel  concerning  redeeming,  and  concerning  changing,  for  to 
confirm  all  things:  a  man  plucked  off  his  shoe,  and  gave  it  to  his 
neighbour;  and  this  was  a  testimony  in  Israel.  Therefore  the 
kinsman  said  unto  Boaz,  Buy  it  for  thee;  so  he  drew  off  his  shoe. 

This  ceremony  is  evidently  different  from  that  which  was 
prescribed  in  the  law  of  Moses,  concerning  the  man  who  re- 


126  THE  HISTOKY  LECT.  XT. 

fused  to  marry  the  childless  widow  of  his  brother  that  had 
dwelt  in  the  house  with  him.  In  that  case,  the  widow  her- 
self was  to  pluck  off  the  man's  shoe,  and  to  spit  in  his  face  as 
a  reproach  upon  him  for  refusing  to  raise  up  seed  to  his  brother. 
A  distant  relation  was  not  under  the  same  legal  obligations, 
nor  subjected  to  the  same  reproach. 

Significant  ceremonies  are  still  used  amongst  men  in  trans- 
ferring the  property  of  land  from  one  to  another,  as  well  as  in 
manv  other  transactions  of  importance.  They  are  useful  for 
authenticating  transactions,  and  preventing  disputes  for  the 
time  to  come.  The  kinsman  of  Boaz  not  only  expressed  his 
resignation  of  his  right  in  the  ears  of  the  witnesses,  but  pre- 
sented a  visible  sign  of  it  to  their  eyes,  that  all  possibility  of 
doubt  or  contention  might  be  obviated.  ^Here  is  my  shoe,' 
said  he  to  Boaz.  ^He  who  wears  this  shoe,  has  a  right  to  buy 
and  use  the  ground  in  question.  Let  this  be  a  witness,  that 
what  was  formerly  mine,  is  become  yours  with  my  consent.' 

The  use  of  visible  signs  for  establishing  bargains  may  call 
to  our  minds  the  wonderful  condescension  of  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer, in  granting  us  visible  signs  of  his  grace  for  the  con- 
firmation of  our  faith.  As  certainly  as  the  shoe  of  this  kins- 
man was  in  the  possession  of  Boaz,  the  land  which  that  kinsman 
had  the  prior  right  to  redeem  now  belonged  to  Boaz.  As 
certainly  as  we  are  cleansed  by  water,  and  nourished  and  re- 
freshed by  bread  and  wine,  (the  symbols  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord,)  are  our  souls  cleansed,  nourished,  and  invigorated, 
by  the  blood  and  body  represented  by  them.  We  may  say  of 
such  visible  signs  of  a  covenant,  what  Paul  says  of  oaths,  that 
they  'are  for  confirmation,  to  put  an  end  to  all  strife.' 

Verse  9. — And  Boaz  said  unto  the  elders,  and  unto  all  the  peo- 
ple, Ye  arc  witnesses  this  day,  that  I  have  bought  all  that  was 
KlimelecKs,  and  all  that  was  Chilion's  and  Mahlon's,  of  the  hand 
of  Xaomi. 

Jk)az  was  not  afraid  of  marring  his  own  inheritance,  nor  did 
he  seek  any  pretexts  for  declining  that  generous  bargain  which 
the  kinsman  refused.  It  is  a  happy  thing,  not  only  for  a 
rich  man  liiinself,  but  for  all  around  him,  when  he  is  disposed 


CHAP.  IV.  1-10.  OF   RUTH.  127 

to  use  his  substance  for  the  purposes  for  which  Providence  be- 
stowed it. 

When  Boaz  makes  the  bargain,  he  calls  not  only  upon  the 
elders,  but  upon  all  the  people  present,  to  be  witnesses.  He 
followed  the  example  of  his  father  Abraham.  He  never  bought 
any  land  but  a  burial-place,  and  he  took  all  possible  care  to 
obviate  any  contentions  about  the  purchase  to  himself  and  to 
his  heirs.  ^The  field  of  Ephron,  which  was  in  Machpelah, 
which  was  before  Mamre,  the  field  and  the  cave  which  was 
therein,  and  all  the  trees  which  were  therein,  were  made  sure 
unto  Abraham  for  a  possession  in  the  presence  of  the  children 
of  Heth,  before  all  that  went  in  at  the  gate  of  his  city ;'  Gen. 
xxiii.  17,  18.  ^A  good  man  will  guide  his  aifairs  with  dis- 
cretion.' 

I  have  bought  all  that  was  ElimelecNs,  and  all  that  was  Chilion's 
and  Mahlon^s.  You  see  how  changeable  earthly  property  is. 
Men  think  they  can  secure  it  almost  against  death.  By  pur- 
chasing land,  and  using  legal  methods  for  transmitting  it  to 
the  offspring  of  their  own  bodies,  they  can  possess  it  in  the 
person  of  their  second  selves,  after  they  go  down  to  the  grave. 
But  although  you  have  both  children  and  friends,  you  can  be 
secure  of  no  dwelling,  but  the  house  appointed  for  all  living ; 
of  no  larger  estate,  than  that  quantity  of  ground  which  is  suf- 
ficient to  cover  your  bodies.  In  the  course  of  ten  years  so- 
journing in  the  land  of  Moab,  Elimelech  and  all  his  sons  died, 
and  now  his  estate  came  into  the  possession  of  Boaz.  Here 
you  have  no  continuing  possession.  Seek  a  place  in  the  better 
country.  All  believers  in  Christ  receive  a  kingdom  which  will 
not  pass  to  others;  but  Hhe  world  passeth  away, and  the  lust 
thereof.' 

Verse  10. — Moreover,  Ruth,  the  Moahitess,  the  wife  of  Mahlon, 
have  I  purchased  to  he  my  wife,  to  raise  up  the  name  of  the  dead 
upon  his  inheritance,  that  the  name  of  the  dead  he  not  cut  off  from 
among  his  hrethren,  and  from  the  gate  of  his  place;  ye  are  wit- 
nesses this  day. 

Boaz  was  now,  in  all  probability,  far  advanced  in  years,  and 
yet  he  scruples  not  to  bring  a  wife,  and  even  a  young  wife, 
into  his  family.     It  is  certainly  not,  in  most  cases,  advisable 


]28  THE   HISTOr.Y  LECT.  XT. 

for  an  old  man  to  marry  a  young  wife;  and  yet  we  must  not 
roproat'h  men  for  doing  wliat  the  law  of  God  does  not  forbid. 
It  is  probable  that  Abraham  married  a  wife  when  he  was  old; 
Gen.  XXV.  1.  A  woman  past  the  flower  of  her  age  is  not  pro- 
hibited by  the  apostle  to  marry,  provided  she  marry  in  the 
Lord.  Men  and  women  must  judge  for  themselves  in  cases 
where  the  law  is  silent.  ^Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked/  is  a  law 
which  prohibits  the  marriage  of  believers  with  unbelievers,  or 
of  virtuous  with  proflme  persons.  It  may  be  extended,  in  the 
spirit  of  it,  to  other  inequalities  which  might  render  the  mar- 
riaire  state  uncomfortable  or  ensnaring  to  either  of  the  parties; 
whicii  a  very  great  inequality  of  age  would  in  most  cases  do. 
But  it  could  not  have  been  applied  to  the  case  of  Boaz,  al- 
though it  had  been  found  in  that  part  of  the  Bible  which  was 
given  to  Israel.  The  inequality  of  age  was  so  richly  compen- 
sated by  similitude  of  disposition  and  mutual  attachment,  that 
it  made  little  or  no  abatement  of  happiness  to  either  party. 

Moreover,  Ruth,  the  Moohitess.  He  was  not  ashamed  of  her 
extraction.  She  was  a  descendant,  not  of  Abraham  but  of  Lot, 
according  to  the  flesh ;  but  she  deserved  so  much  the  more  re- 
spect when  she  was  a  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Sarah  in  faith, 
in  well-doing,  in  patience,  and  in  courage.  She  forgot  her 
own  people,  and  her  father's  house,  and  the  eternal  King  greatly 
desired  her  beauty. 

The  icife  of  Mahlon  have  I  purchased  to  be  my  wife.  Ruth 
was  a  widow,  but  not  the  less  desirable  for  a  wife  on  that  ac- 
count in  the  esteem  of  Boaz.  From  the  duty  she  performed 
to  Mahlon,  living  and  dead,  he  concluded  that  she  would  make 
the  best  of  wives  to  himself.  She  had  this  advantage  above 
virgins,  that  her  own  works,  as  a  wife  and  as  a  widow,  praised 
her  in  the  gate,  and  all  the  children  of  his  people  knew  that 
hwr  virtue  had  stood  the  test  of  many  trials. 

'  J  have  })urchascd  her  to  be  my  wife,'  or  acquired  a  just 
right  to  her.  It  was  necessary  for  him  to  redeem  her  estate, 
that  h(;  might  marry  her;  but  he  made  an  excellent  bargain, 
although  the  land  was  to  go  to  the  legal  posterity  of  Mahlon, 
for  *  the  price  of  a  virtuous  woman  is  above  rubies.'  Houses 
and  lands  are  the  inheritance  of  parents,  but  ^a  prudent  wife 
is  from  tlie  Lord.' 


CHAP.  TV.  1-10.  OF   RUTU.  129 

To  raise  up  the  name  of  the  dead  upon  his  inheritance,  that  the 
name  of  the  dead  be  not  cut  off  from  among  his  brethren,  and  from 
the  gate  of  his  place.  Although  the  happiness  that  Boaz  ex- 
pected to  enjoy  in  his  connection  with  a  woman  so  virtuous 
and  amiable,  could  have  been  a  sufficient  inducement  to  him 
to  marry  Euth,  yet  it  was  not  his  only  motive.  He  made  no 
vain  boast  of  his  kindness  to  Mahlon  when  he  expressed  his 
desire  of  perpetuating  the  name  of  the  dead.  It  was  for  the 
sake  of  the  dead  that  Euth  desired  him  to  take  her  into  the 
marriage  relation,  and  he  showed  all  that  readiness  to  comply 
with  her  desire  which  could  consist  with  the  rights  of  a  nearer 
relation.  It  is  mean  and  dishonest  to  pretend  that  you  do  any 
thing  for  the  benefit  or  credit  of  your  friends,  when  you  are 
actuated  only  by  self-love.  ^He  that  boasteth  of  a  false  gift, 
is  like  clouds  and  wind  without  rain.'  It  is  base  to  boast  of 
your  friendly  offices  to  others  when  vanity  dictates  your  words; 
but  Boaz  professed  his  friendly  intentions  to  the  dead  with  a 
view  to  the  credit  of  him  whose  place  he  was  to  occupy. 

But  how  did  Boaz  know  that  his  marriage  with  Euth  would 
keep  up  the  name  of  the  dead  in  his  inheritance?  He  cer- 
•  tainly  was  not  ignorant  that  God  alone  is  the  creator  of  man, 
and  that  the  fruit  of  the  womb  is  from  him.  But  he  believed 
that  God  would  give  him  seed  by  Euth,  because  he  was  taking 
that  method  which  God  had  authorized  for  raising  up  children 
to  the  dead.  He  married  Euth  in  the  faith  that  God  would 
make  his  own  appointed  means  effectual,  if  he  saw  it  good,  for 
the  end  in  view.  Although  the  letter  of  the  law  (Deut.  xxv.) 
did  not  require  him  to  raise  up  seed  to  Mahlon,  he  acted  on 
the  principle  on  which  the  law  was  founded.  His  expectation 
of  seed  by  this  marriage  is  the  more  observable,  as  Euth  had 
been  hitherto  barren,  and  Boaz  himself  was  well  stricken  in 
years.  Perhaps  we  should  not  err,  if  we  alleged  that,  like  his 
father  Abraham,  he  received  a  son  by  faith;  although  his  faith 
had  not  the  same  difficulties  to  surmount. 

The  men  of  ancient  times  seem  to  have  entertained  more 

ardent  wishes  than  the  people  in  our  days,  to  have  their  names 

preserved  after  their  death  by  real  or  legal  descendants.     A 

name  after  death  will  be  of  little  use  to  us,  if  we  are  not  found 

9 


]30  THE  HISTOKY  LECT.  XI. 

*  written  amongst  the  living  in  Jerusalem.'  It  is  certainly  how- 
ever our  duty,  to  endeavour  to  leave  a  good  name  behind  us, 
by  doing  those  works  that  will  deserve  it.  '  The  memorial  of 
the  righteous  is  everlasting.'  'A  good  name  is  better  than 
precious  ointment;  and  the  day  of  death  (to  persons  entitled 
to  a  good  name)  is  better  than  the  day  of  their  birth.'  Christ 
requires  us  to  make  our  ^  light  so  to  shine  before  men,  that 
they,  seeing  our  good  works,  may  glorify  our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.'  When  our  works  commend  themselves  to  the  con- 
sciences of  men,  they  will  glorify  God  on  our  account,  not  only 
whilst  we  are  yet  alive,  but  as  long  as  our  names  and  virtues 
are  remembered.  Remember  your  rulers  and  other  good  men, 
now  with  God,  who  once  conversed  with  you  on  earth ;  and 
follow  their  faith,  ^considering  the  end  of  their  conversation,' 
and  then  it  may  be  expected  that  some  will  follow  your  faith, 
when  you  have  obtained  the  end  of  it — the  'salvation  of  your 
souls.' 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF   RUTH.  131 


LECTURE  XII. 


kuth's  maeriage,  and  the  birth  of  obed. 

CHAPTER  IV.  10-22. 

Verse  10. —  Ye  are  tvitnesses  this  day. 

Verse  11. — And  all  the  people  that  loere  in  ike  gate,  and  the 
elders,  said.  We  are  ivituesses.  The  Lord  make  the  woman  that 
is  come  into  thine  house  like  Rachel  and  like  Leah,  which  two  did 
build  the  house  of  Israel;  and  do  thou  worthily  in  Ephratah,  and 
he  famous  in  Bethlehem, 

Ye  are  ivitnesses  this  day.  It  was  highly  proper  that  Boaz 
should  call  the  elders  and  the  people  to  bear  witness  to  the 
purchase  of  Elimelech's  land.  It  was  still  more  necessary  to 
have  witnesses  of  his  marriage-contract.  Many  of  the  female 
sex  have  been  rendered  miserable  for  life  by  a  clandestine  en- 
trance into  the  marriage  state.  Publicity  in  engagements  of 
such  importance  is  necessary  to  the  prevention  of  general  li- 
centiousness of  manners.  And  those  who  break  the  good  laws 
necessary  to  prevent  immorality,  contribute  their  endeavours 
to  promote  the  interests  of  Belial,  in  opposition  to  the  interests 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

We  are  witnesseSy  said  all  the  people.  They  gladly  came 
forward  to  bear  their  part  in  that  generous  transaction,  bv 
which  the  family  of  Elimelech  was  to  be  rescued  from  oblivion, 
and,  in  some  sense,  raised  from  the  grave  in  which  it  lay  buried. 
It  was  a  grief  to  the  people  who  entered  in  by  the  gates  of 
Bethlehem,  that  a  family  once  honoured  amongst  them,  was 
now  on  the  point  of  extinction;  and  with  joy  they  declared 
themselves  the  witnesses  of  a  marriage  which  gave  them  hopes 
that  it  would  be  again  built  up  amongst  them. 


132  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

The  Lord  make  the  woman  that  w  come  into  thine  house  like 
Bachel  and  like  Leah,  which  two  did  build  the  house  of  Israel. 
The  fruit  of  the  womb  was  greatly  desired  by  the  ancient  Is- 
raelites. It  was  one  of  the  blessings  promised  to  them  in  the 
Sinai  covenant,  if  they  obeyed  God's  testimonies.  'I  will  have 
respei't  to  you,  and  make  you  fruitful,  and  multiply  you,  and 
establish  my  covenant  with  you.'  The  children  of  Judah 
would  value  this  blessing  the  more,  in  the  hope  of  giving  birth 
to  the  Messiah,  who  was  to  spring  from  Judah.  The  men  of 
Bethlehem  did  not  yet  know  that  their  city  was  to  be  honoured 
above  the  other  cities  of  Israel,  or  that  the  family  of  Nahshon 
was  to  be  honoured  above  all  the  families  of  Judah,  by  giving 
him  birth;  but  they  cordially  prayed  that  Boaz  might  be  blessed 
with  a  numerous  progeny,  as  ihe  fruitof  his  marriage  with  Ruth. 

llie  Lord  make  the  woman  that  is  come  into  thine  house  like 
Rachel  and  like  Leah,  the  general  mothers  of  Israel.  Leah  was 
more  fruitful  than  Rachel.  She  was  the  mother  of  the  men 
of  Bethlehem.  She  was  the  elder  sister;  and  yet  they  put  the 
name  of  Rachel  before  hers,  because  she  was  the  wife  whom 
Jacob  chose,  and  who  had  the  best  right  to  the  bed  of  the 
patriarch.  Perhaps  they  might  have  another  reason  for  men- 
tioning Rachel  with  distinction.  Her  history  was  a  standing 
memorial  of  the  power  of  God,  in  giving  or  withholding  the 
fruit  of  the  womb.  She  was  for  a  time  barren;  but  God,  in 
answer  to  her  prayers,  gave  her  two  sons,  who  were  to  be  the 
fathers  of  a  great  multitude  of  descendants.  The  blessings  re- 
quested for  Boaz  correspond  to  the  prophecy  of  Jacob  concern- 
ing the  posterity  of  Joseph :  '  In  thee  shall  Israel  bless,  saying, 
God  make  thee  as  Ephraim,  and  as  Manasseh!' 

Like  Rachel  and  like  Leah,  who  built  the  house  of  Israel. 
Why  is  it  said  that  Rachel  and  Leah  built  up  the  house  of 
Israel?  Did  not  Biliiah  and  Zilpah  share  with  them  in  this 
honour?  Yes.  But  the  children  of  Bilhah  were  accounted  the 
children  of  Rachel,  and  the  children  of  Zilpah  were  Leah's 
children.  This  is  a  comfort  to  th<i  poorest  mother  amongst  us, 
that  siie  possesses  undivided  the  comfort  of  her  relation,  both 
to  her  children  and  to  her  husband. 

The  Lord  make  the  woman  that  is  come  into  thine  house  like 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF  RUTH.  133 

Rachel  andVihe  Leah,  which  built  the  house  of  Israel.  Boaz  brouo-h  t 
the  woman  into  his  house  to  build  up  the  house  of  Elinielech,  but 
his  townsmen  prayed  and  hoped  that  this  worthy  action  would 
be  rewarded  by  the  enlargement  of  his  own  family.  He  that 
does  good  shall  receive  blessings  from  men,  and  shall  be  well 
rewarded  by  God.  ^To  him  that  soweth  righteousness  shall 
be  a  sure  reward.^  And  he  may  expect  a  reward  in  kind,  if 
God  sees  it  will  be  good  for  him.  ^The  Lord  give  thee  seed 
of  this  woman/  said  Eli  to  Elkanah,  ^for  the  loan  which  thou 
hast  lent  unto  the  Lord.'  *  He  that  forsaketh  father  and  mother, 
and  other  relations,  for  my  sake,'  says  Christ,  ^ shall  receive 
an  hundred-fold,  fathers,  and  mothers,  and  brothers,  and  sis- 
ters.' Nothing  is  lost,  but  every  thing  is  more  than  saved, 
that  is  from  proper  motives  bestowed  on  those  men  to  whom 
God  gives  a  right  to  our  benefactions. 

And  do  thou  ivorthily  in  Ephratah!  He  had  done  worthily, 
and  they  hope  and  pray  that  he  may  still  do  worthily.  It  is 
not  enough  for  us  to  have  done  what  is  good;  we  must  still 
continue  to  do  what  is  well-pleasing  to  God.  Are  there  not 
twelve  hours  of  the  day?  none  of  them  are  intended  for  sleep. 
Let  us  work  during  the  hours  of  day  the  work  of  our  divine 
Master,  and  it  will  be  pleasant  for  us  to  fall  asleep,  and  to  rest 
from  our  labours.  Boaz  was  now  an  old  man.  He  must  still 
do  worthily.  Although  he  cannot,  perhaps,  do  what  he  was 
once  able  to  do,  he  may  do  works  no  less  useful  to  men  and 
pleasing  to  God.  ^The  trees  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  flourishing  in  the  courts  of  our  God,  shall  bring  forth  fruit 
in  old  age.' 

And  be  famous  in  Bethlehem!  He  was  already  highly  es- 
teemed, and  they  wished  his  fame  to  continue  and  increase  by 
well-doing.  A  great  name  is  not  greatly  to  be  coveted,  but  *a 
good  name  is  better  than  precious  ointment.'  The  possession 
of  a  good  name,  acquired  by  daing  worthily,  fits  us  for  doing 
much  good  to  men,  and  for  answering  the  end  of  our  life  in 
glorifying  God  ;  1  Peter  ii.  12. 

Ephratah  and  Bethlehem  are  two  names  for  the  same  town. 
It  is  situated,  as  the  name  signifies,  in  a  fertile  spot  of  the  earth. 
It  more  than  doubly  deserved  this  name,  when  ^  the  man  whose 


1 34  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

name  is  the  Branch'  grew  up  out  of  this  place;  that  blessed  man 
who  '  gave  his  flesh  to  be  the  life  of  the  world/ 

Verse  12. — And  kt  thy  Iiouse  be  like  the  house  of  Pharez,  whom 
Tamar  bare  unto  Judah,  of  the  seed  which  the  Lord  shall  give 
thee  of  thi,^  young  woman. 

AVho  could  have  expected  that  Pharez,  the  son  of  Judah, 
should  be  blessed  with  an  offspring  so  numerous,  that  in  him 
should  Israel  bless,  saying,  ^The  Lord  make  thee  like  Pharez 
in  the  fruit  of  thy  body'?  Pharez  was  the  son  of  Judah  by  his 
dau''hter-in-law.  The  punishment  denounced  against  some 
incestuous  practices  is,  that  the  persons  guilty  of  them  should 
be  childless;  Lev.  xx.  Judah's  sin  was  not  intentional  in- 
cest, but  exceedingly  blameable;  and  yet  God,  who  is  rich  in 
mercy,  made  him,  by  Tamar,  the  father  of  a  numerous  seed, 
of  which  were  many  illustrious  saints  and  heroes,  and  of  which 
was  Christ  himself  according  to  the  flesh.  When  Er  and 
Onan  died,  and  no  sons  were  left  to  Judah  but  Shelah,  whom 
he  was  afraid  to  give  unto  Tamar,  he  would  probably  despair 
of  fever  having  a  great  name  amongst  the  tribes  of  IsraeL  But 
though  his  beginning  was  small,  his  latter  end  greatly  in- 
creased. Benjamin  had  ten  sons,  and  yet  his  tribe  was  the 
least  of  Israel.  Judah  had  only  three  sons  left  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  two  oldest,  and  the  birth  of  two  of  them  was 
his  shame  and  sorrow.  Yet  ^  Judah  was  he  whom  his  brethren 
praised'  for  the  multitude  and  the  glory  of  his  race. 

The  Ephrathites  discover  great  ardour  in  their  prayers  for 
a  numerous  family  to  Boaz.  We  know  that  their  prayers 
were  answered  in  the  glory  of  many  of  his  descendants;  1 
Chron.  iii,  and  in  their  great  number. 

Whom  Tamar  bare  unto  Judah.  We  all  know  that  she  was 
a  Canaan itess,  and  that  she  brought  upon  herself,  and  upon 
Judali,  much  guilt;  but  God  pardons  iniquity,  transgression, 
and  sin.  Her  name  was  perhaps  mentioned  by  the  Ephrathites, 
l>ecau.se  she  was  of  heatiieji  extraction,  and  of  a  race  of  heathens 
of  a  worse  name  than  the  countrymen  of  Ruth.  That  God, 
wjio  made  a  Canaan  itess  wiiose  name  was  blackened  by  the  vices 
lommon  in  her  nation,  the  mother  of  many  in  Israel,  might  be 
expected  to  bestow  a  like  blessing  upon  the  virtuous  Moabitess. 


criAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF  RUTH.  185 

Whieh  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  of  this  young  woman.  The 
ancient  Israelites  used  to  speak  of  their  children  as  a  gift  be- 
stowed upon  them  by  God,  and  a  gift  much  more  precious 
than  gold  or  lands.  There  are  thankless  men,  who  account 
their  children  a  burden.  Large  families,  indeed,  may  expose 
poor  men  to  much  toil,  and  to  much  anxiety  in  thinking  what 
they  shall  do  to  find  provision  for  so  many  eaters;  but  'the 
Lord  will  providej'  and  hath  commanded  us  to  cast  all  our 
care  upon  him,  because  he  careth  for  us. 

Of  this  young  woman.  Ruth  was  yet  young,  although  her 
husband,  whom  she  married  in  her  youth,  was  in  his  grave. 
This  is  one  great  advantage  of  equality  of  years  in  the  married 
state,  that  the  parties  may  hope  to  live  together  for  a  greater 
number  of  years,  than  those  who  marry  husbands  or  wives 
much  older  than  themselves.  But  this  hope,  like  all  others 
not  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  is  precarious.  More  persons 
die  in  youth  than  in  old  age.  Boaz,  it  is  probable,  lived  longer 
with  Ruth  than  Mahlon  had  done. 

Verse  13. — So  Boaz  took  Ruth,  and  she  was  his  wife;  and 
when  he  went  in  unto  her,  the  Lord  gave  her  conception,  and  she 
bare  a  son. 

He  took  Ruth,  and  she  became  his  wife.  He  did  not  rashly 
promise  to  spread  his  skirt  over  her;  but  that  conditional  promise 
which  he  made  was  faithfully,  and  with  all  convenient  speed, 
performed.  It  is  much  better  to  be  speedy  in  performing  than 
in  promising.  Wg  may  easily  ensnare  ourselves  by  well-meant 
words.     Works  are  the  surest  proof  of  real  kindness. 

And  the  Lord  gave  her  conception.  These  words  of  God  to 
Eve,  'I  will  greatly  multiply  thy  sorrow  and  thy  conception,' 
were  a  merciful  threatening.  God  remembered  mercy  to  our 
race,  when  he  denounced  the  just  punishment  of  our  sin. 
Men's  brows  were  to  sweat  with  toil,  but  in  the  sweat  of  their 
brows  they  were  to  eat  bread.  Women  were  to  feel  bitter  sor- 
rows, that  they  might  learn  how  evil  and  bitter  a  thing  it  was 
to  sin ;  but  they  were  to  enjoy  the  comfort,  in  their  sorrows, 
of  conceiving  and  bearing  children.  When  it  is  said  that  the 
Lord  gave  conception  to  Ruth,  it  is  not  a  punishment,  but  a 
mercy  that  is  spoken  of.     She  felt  the  sorrows  of  other  wo- 


136  THE   HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

men,  but  she  blessed  God  for  these  sorrows  that  were  to  bring 
her  the  joys  of  a  mother  in  Israel. 

It  is  not  said  that  she  bare  any  children  to  Mahlon,  the 
luisband  of  her  youth;  but  to  Boaz  she  conceived,  and  bare  a 
son,  for  the  Lord  gave  her  conception.  'He  makes  the  barren 
woman  to  keep  house,  and  to  be  a  joyful  mother  of  children : 
Praise  ye  the  Lord,  who  forms  our  bodies  fearfully  and  won- 
derfully,' and  who  creates  the  spirit  of  man  within  him. 

Verse  14. — And  the  women  said  unto  Naomi,  Blessed  be  the 
Lord,  which  hath  not  left  thee  this  day  without  a  kinsman,  that 
his  name  may  be  famous  in  Israel. 

The  birth  of  Obed  brought  gladness  not  only  to  his  mother 
and  father,  but  to  Naomi  and  all  her  neighbours.  They  loved 
her,  and  therefore  they  rejoiced  in  her  joy.  It  was  the  praise 
of  Xaorai  that  she  gained  their  love,  by  the  virtue,  the  piety, 
the  mildness  of  her  manners ;  and  those  who  behave  as  Naomi 
behaved,  will,  for  the  most  part,  gain  the  affections  of  some 
of  their  neighours.  H  the  poorest  women  are  destitute  of 
friends,  let  them  examine  their  own  conduct,  and  they  will 
probably  find  that  the  fault  is  partly  in  themselves.  That 
place  must  be  very  destitute  both  of  piety  and  virtue,  where 
an  unblemished  conduct,  joined  with  sweetness  of  manners, 
will  procure  the  affection  of  few  or  none. 

Our  joy  in  the  prosperity  of  our  friends  and  neighbours 
should  be  expressed  in  thanksgivings  to  God,  the  giver  of  all 
good.  Blessed  be  the  Lord!  said  Naomi's  neighbours,  who  hath 
not  left  thee  this  day  without  a  kinsman.  Paul  expected  that 
many  thanksgivings  would  be  presented  to  God  on  account  of 
the  mercies  bestowed  upon  himself,  and  he  abounded  in  thanks- 
giving to  God  on  account  of  the  mercies  bestowed  on  his 
friends. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  hath  not  left  thee  this  day  without  a 
kinsman.  Whatever  joy  men  give  us,  praise  is  due  to  God 
who  makes  them  the  instruments  of  his  benefits.  In  the  good- 
will of  iioaz,  as  well  as  in  the  birth  of  his  child,  Naomi's 
neighljours  saw  reasons  to  bless  the  Lord  for  his  goodness. 
Her  nearest  kinsman  would  not  perform  the  duty  of  the  kins- 
man ;  but  God  left  her  not  without  a  kinsman.  When  one  friend 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF  RUTH.  137 

behaves  in  an  unfriendly  manner,  God  can  easily  find  us,  or 
make  us,  a  better  friend.  Let  us  never  be  dejected  by  the  un- 
kindness  of  those  from  whom  we  expected  favours.  All  hearts 
are  in  the  hand  of  God.  When  David  found  no  favour  with 
his  own  father-in-law,  the  king  of  Israel,  he  found  much  h- 
vour  with  the  king  of  Gath,  many  of  whose  people  he  had 
killed  in  the  quarrels  of  the  king  of  Israel. 

lie  hath  not  left  thee  idthout  a  kinsman,  that  his  name  may 
be  famous  in  Israel.  What  fame  would  be  acquired  in  Israel 
by  the  kindness  of  Boaz  to  Ruth  and  Naomi?  Was  it  to  be 
hoped  that  his  goodness  and  bounties  to  them  would  be  known 
and  praised  amongst  all  the  tribes?  It  is  natural  for  men  to 
think  that  the  actions  which  they  admire,  should  be  known 
and  admired  by  all.  The  hopes  of  these  good  women  were 
perhaps  more  sanguine  than  the  case  could  justify;  and  yet 
they  were  more  than  realized.  The  name  of  Boaz  became 
famous  through  all  Israel,  and  will  continue  famous  among 
the  Gentiles  also  while  the  world  lasts,  because  it  is  mentioned 
with  honour  in  the  book  of  God.  Both  bad  and  good  actions 
are  often  published  to  a  greater  extent,  and  continue  longer 
to  be  known,  than  the  doers  or  any  of  their  friends  expected. 
Single  actions  have  often  become  the  seed  of  everlasting  praise 
or  censure  in  the  world.  Little  did  the  woman,  who  poured 
the  box  of  ointment  on  the  head  of  Jesus,  expect,  that,  where- 
ever  the  gospel  was  preached,  that  which  she  had  done  would 
be  ^  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her  throughout  the  whole 
world.'  Our  good  or  bad  actions  never  die.  They  are  written 
in  the  book  of  God.  Our  bad  actions  may,  indeed,  be  blotted 
out  by  pardoning  mercy.  If  they  are  not  forgiven,  they  will 
appear  to  our  shame  in  the  next  world,  and  perhaps  in  the 
present.  If  our  good  actions  are  not  remembered  by  men, 
they  will  be  brought  to  remembrance  by  the  Lord.  The 
nearest  kinsman  of  Naomi  lost  an  opportunity  of  being  re- 
nowned in  Israel,  because  he  would  not  raise  up  seed  to  Mah- 
lon.  The  name  of  Boaz  will  live  in  the  church,  and  what  he 
did  will,  at  the  last  day,  be  published  before  men  and  angels. 

Verse  15.— ^nd  he  shall  be  unto  thee  a  restorer  of  thy  life,  and 


138  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

a  nourisher  of  thine  old  age;  for  thy  daughter-in-law  ^  which  loveth 
thee,  which  is  better  to  thee  than  seven  so7is,  hath  borne  him. 

^  For  thy  daughter-in-law  hath  borne  to  him  (a  son)/  So 
some  understand  these  words,  and  refer  them  to  Boaz.  Our 
translation  is  indeed  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  words,  and 
a^i^roes  with  others  of  the  most  celebrated  versions.     The  verse 

o 

seems,  according  to  this  way  of  reading  it,  to  express  the  hope 
of  Naomi's  neighbours  concerning  the  son  that  was  now  born 
to  Kuth;  that  he  would  be  a  comfort  to  JN'aomi's  declining 
years,  and  would,  by  his  virtues,  by  his  kind  attentions  to 
Xaomi,  as  well  as  by  the  tender  affection  which  Naomi  would 
bear  to  him  as  the  only  remnant  of  her  family,  make  her  last 
days  as  pleasant  as  her  former  had  Been  sorrowful. 

Boaz  was  already,  and,  they  hoped,  would  continue  to  be, 
the  nourisher  of  her  old  age,  and  the  restorer  of  her  life.  What 
he  was,  they  expected  his  son  would  be.  Good  men  have  not 
always  the  comfort  of  seeing  their  children  walk  in  their  ways. 
But  it  is  very  natural  for  friends  and  kind  neighbours  to  hope 
well  of  the  children  of  those,  who  they  know  will  be  careful 
to  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  hath  not  left  thee  without  a  kinsman, 
that  his  name  may  be  famous  in  Israel.  Some  refer  these  words, 
not  to  Boaz,  but  to  his  son,  of  whom  the  following  words  are 
spoken.  But  the  word  which  we  render  kinsman,  is  generally, 
if  not  universally,  to  be  understood  in  a  sense  not  applicable 
to  the  child;  and  there  does  not  appear  any  absolute  necessity 
to  understand  the  same  person  as  the  subject  of  discourse  in 
both  these  verses:  *And  he  shall  be  to  thee  a  restorer  of  thy 
life ;'  or,  *  Thou  shalt  have  a  restorer  of  thy  life,  and  a  nourisher 
of  thine  old  age.'  The  God,  they  thought,  who  had  showed 
her  so  much  mercy,  in  giving  her  a  kinsman-redeemer,  had 
uow  given  her  a  new  proof  of  his  goodness  in  the  son  that 
was  born  to  him.  The  sight  of  him  was  already  a  renewal 
of  her  life,  and  they  fondly  hoped  that  her  grey  hairs  would 
go  towards  the  grave  with  joy,  from  the  good  behaviour  and 
kindness  of  Obed.  Nothing  earthly  is  certain.  Naomi  had 
been  already  greatly  disappointed  in  her  hopes  concerning  her 
family.     She  had  bitterly  lamented  the  change  in  her  con- 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF   RUTH.  I39 

dition,  when  she  came  a  poor  desolate  widow  to  Bethlehem. 
Her  spirit  sunk  within  her,  when  she  compared  her  former 
with  her  present  condition.  But  now  God  smiled  upon  her 
by  his  providence.  She  had  as  good  reason,  at  least,  as  her 
neighbours,  or  as  any  old  person  could  have,  to  hope  that  her 
last  days  would  be  comfortable. 

The  time  of  old  age  is  a  time  of  heaviness  to  a  great  part 
of  mankind.  It  is  the  time  of  which  it  is  ordinary  for  men 
to  say,  they  have  no  pleasure  in  it.  For  this  reason,  the  chil- 
dren, or  grand-children  of  old  persons,  ought  to  do  all  they 
can  to  sweeten  to  them  the  bitterness  of  that  period.  If  you 
could  restore  again  the  life  of  your  dead  parents,  would  you 
not  do  it  with  joy?  You  cannot  bring  them  again  from  the 
grave,  where  M.he  worm  is  spread  under  them,  and  the  worms 
cover  them.'  But  you  may  give  them  new  life  before  they  go 
to  the  grave,  by  your  dutiful  and  religious  behaviour.  ^iSTow 
we  live,'  said  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  ^if  ye  stand  fast  in 
the  Lord.'  Their  steadfastness  in  faith  was  life  to  Paul.  Such 
a  life  the  women  of  Bethlehem  expected  would  be  given  to 
Naomi,  by  the  child  born  to  her  by  Euth.  How  little  do 
those  deserve  life,  that  will  not  suffer  those  who  gave  them 
life  to  live  with  comfort!  No  punishment  is  reckoned  too 
severe  for  them  who  are  murderers  of  their  fathers  or  of  their 
mothers ;  but  what  is  life,  without  comfort,  but  a  lingering 
death?  and  nothing  so  effectually  destroys  the  comfort  of  the 
aged,  as  the  bad  behaviour  of  children.  If  any  thing  can  re- 
store that  pleasant  life  which  they  enjoyed  in  youth,  it  is  the 
sight  of  virtuous,  dutiful,  and  happy  descendants. 

He  shall  be  the  7'estorer  of  thy  lifey  and  the  nourisher  of 
thine  old  age.  He  was  to  be  the  nourisher  of  her  old  age, 
not  merely  by  supplying  her  wants,  but  by  those  kind  regards 
which  give  far  more  pleasure  to  the  mind  than  food  gives  to 
the  taste.  ^  Pleasant  words  are  like  an  honey-comb,  sweet  to 
the  soul,  and  health  to  the  bones.'  But  pleasant  words  are 
doubly  pleasant  when  they  come  from  the  mouth  of  a  beloved 
child. 

Xaomi  was  not  the  mother  of  this  child,  nor  even  his  grand- 
mother, in  the  common  sense  of  the  word;  but  she  was  his 


140  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

grand  mother-in-law,  and  therefore  had  the  same  title  to  duti- 
ful behaviour  from  him  as  other  mothers  or  grandmothers. 
It  is  not  to  immediate  parents  only,  but  to  remote  parents  like- 
wise, whether  they  be  our  relations  by  blood,  or  by  law,  or  by 
parental  offices,  that  we  owe  filial  regard.  'But  if  any  widow 
liave  children,  or  nephews,'  says  Paul,  4et  them  learn  first  to 
shew  piety  at  home,  and  to  requite  their  parents,  for  that  is 
good  and  acceptable  before  God.'  Grandchildren  are  here 
meant  by  nephews.  The  word  has  changed  its  meaning  since 
our  translation  of  the  Bible  was  made.  Yet  other  aged  rela- 
tions are  likewise  entitled  to  that  honour  and  duty  which  their 
degree  of  relation  demands,  especially  when  they  want  nearer 
relations.  When  rich  friends  want  heirs  of  their  own  bodies, 
we  hope  to  profit  by  them  when  they  die.  If  they  are  poor, 
should  they  not  derive  some  advantage  from  us  whilst  they 
live?  If  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  supply  their  wants,  it  is  in 
our  power  to  pay  them  the  respect  due  from  the  nearest  of  their 
kinsmen. 

Although  Naomi  was  not  a  relation  by  blood  to  the  young 
child,  she  was  his  relation  by  a  friendship  that  sticks  closer 
than  that  of  blood.  Dearly  she  loved  Ruth,  and  Euth  loved 
her  with  no  less  warmth  of  affection.  *Ruth,  thy  daughter- 
in-law,  which  loveth  thee,  which  is  better  to  thee  than  seven 
sons  hath  borne  him.'  'Thine  own  friend,  and  thy  father's 
friend,  forsake  not,'  says  Solomon.  He  speaks  as  if  we  were 
bound  to  regard  our  father's  friend  no  less  than  our  own.  Na- 
omi could  not  but  love  with  a  fond  affection  the  child  of  Ruth. 
This  consideration,  independently  of  her  own  legal  relation  to 
the  babe,  must  have  endeared  him  to  her  heart.  But  he  must 
have  been  endeared  to  her  likewise  as  the  son  of  Mahlon,  no 
less  than  if  he  had  been  the  offspring  of  his  own  body,  as  love 
to  that  deceased  husband  was  one  of  Ruth's  great  inducements 
to  desire  that  marriage  of  which  he  was  the  fruit. 

Thy  daufjhtcr-in-law,  which  is  better  to  thee  than  seven  sonSj 
hath  borne  him.  Children  of  the  youth  are  compared  by  the 
Psalmist  to  arrows  in  the  hands  of  a  mighty  man,  and  that 
man  is  said  to  be  blessed  who  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them. 
Seven  children  were  esteemed  by  Hannah  one  of  the  richest  of 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF  RUTH.  14] 

earthly  blessings.  'She  that  is  barren  hath  borne  seven,  and 
she  that  hath  borne  seven  languisheth.'  But  the  good  be- 
haviour, the  filial  affection,  and  dutiful  conduct  of  children,  is 
a  far  greater  comfort  to  the  parents  than  the  number  of  them. 
Naomi  had  only  two  sons,  both  of  whom  were  dead,  and  yet 
she  was  as  happy  in  Euth,  as  other  women  were  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  seven  children.  Great  were  her  afflictions,  but  her 
happiness  was  likewise  great,  and  it  was  not  lost  to  her  in  the 
remembrance  of  those  children  that  were  not.  Those  persons 
are  not  always  the  least  happy,  who  have  experienced  the  bit- 
terest trials.  Their  comforts  may  counterbalance  or  exceed 
their  afflictions.  If  we  are  wise,  we  will  not  think  more  fre- 
quently or  more  intensely  on  what  we  have  lost,  than  on  what 
we  have;  and  if  the  comforts  left  to  us  are  few  in  number,  we 
will  consider  whether  the  value  of  them  does  not  make  abun- 
dant compensation  for  their  paucity.  God  has  taken  from  you 
many  children,  and  perhaps  left  you  but  one,  whilst  he  has 
spared  the  whole  family  of  some  of  your  neighbours.  But  if 
your  one  son,  or  daughter,  excels  in  virtue,  you  may  find  more 
pleasure  in  your  one  child  than  your  neigbours  find  in  all  of 
theirs.  A  certain  Duke  of  Ormond,  who-  lost  a  virtuous  son, 
the  Lord  Ossory,  said,  that  he  would  rather  be  the  father  of 
the  dead  Ossory,  than  of  any  living  nobleman  in  England.  Xa- 
omi  would  rather  have  been  the  mother-in-law  of  Euth,  and 
the  grandmother-in-law  of  Obed,  than  the  mother  and  grand- 
mother by  blood  of  any  woman  and  child  in  Bethlehem,  or  in 
Israel.  Pier  soul  was  melted  at  the  remembrance  of  Mahlon 
and  Chilion,  but  it  was  cheered  by  the  virtue  and  happiness 
of  Euth. 

Verse  16. — And  Naomi  took  the  child,  and  laid  it  in  her  bosom, 
and  became  nurse  unto  it. 

The  infants  of  our  race  are  feeble  and  helpless  beyond  most 
of  the  young  of  the  animal  creation;  but  divine  Providence 
has  not  left  us  without  a  protector  for  our  years  of  infancy. 
*Why  did  the  knees  prevent  us?  Why  the  breasts  that  we 
should  suck?'  Because  a  gracious  God  infused  maternal  love 
into  the  hearts  of  our  mothers.  Why  did  we  find  tender  com- 
passions in  the  breasts  of  those  women  who  assisted  our  mothers 


142  THE  HISTORY  LECT.  XII. 

to  rear  us  up  to  a  firmer  age?  All  the  care  employed  about 
us  in  these  first  years  of  life,  we  owe  to  Him  who  took  us  safely 
from  the  womb.  That  love  of  children  which  naturally  arises 
in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  the  care  of  them,  is  wisely  ap- 
pointed as  a  recompense  for  their  pains.  Naomi  laid  the  new- 
born babe  in  her  bosom,  and  became  the  nursing  mother.  She 
did  not  reckon  it  a  burden,  but  a  delicious  pleasure,  to  have 
the  care  of  that  precious  infant  which  was  now  the  only  rem- 
nant of  her  family. 

Some  make  themselves  unhappy,  by  viewing  only  the  gloomy 
circumstances  of  what  befals  them;  and  others  live  content  and 
thankful  to  Providence,  under  many  adversities,  because  they 
view  every  thing  in  its  most  favourable  light.  Naomi's  sor- 
rows would  have  fretted  her  mind,  had  she  considered  the 
child  of  Ruth  only  as  the  son  of  a  distant  relation,  by  one  from 
whom  she  once  expected  heirs  to  her  own  family.  A  peevish 
woman  in  her  place  would  have  said  to  herself,  This  child  is 
my  son's  only  in  name;  whatever  right  he  may  possess  to  our 
estate,  there  is  no  natural  relation  between  him  and  Mahlon. 
But  Naomi  loved  the  child,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  Kutli  and 
Boaz,  but  for  her  son's  sake,  whose  name  w^as  called  upon  him. 
She  expected  from  him,  in  maturer  years,  all  that  tenderness 
of  regard  which  a  dutiful  child  can  have  to  his  mother,  and 
felt  an  exquisite  pleasure  in  those  painful  offices  which  the 
feebleness  of  infancy  requires.  Such  was  her  attachment  to 
it,  that  her  neighbours  spoke  of  it  as  if  it  had  been  her  own 
child. 

Verse  17. — And  the  icomen,  her  neighbours y  gave  it  anamCy 
saying  J  There  is  a  son  born  to  Naomi;  and  they  called  his  name 
Obed.     He  is  the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David, 

It  belonged  to  the  parents  to  give  new-born  children  their 
names.  The  first  child  born  into  the  world  received  his  name 
from  his  mother.  John  Baptist  received  his  name  from  his 
father,  when  other  friends  wished  to  give  him  a  different  name. 
Jesus  received  his  name  from  both  his  real  and  supposed  par- 
ent, by  the  direction  of  an  angel.  The  neighbours  of  Naomi 
gave  a  name  to  the  child  that  was  born  to  her,  and  both  she 
and  the  parents  acc^uiesced  in  their  wishes.     It  adds  greatly 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.  OF  EUTH.  I43 

to  the  pleasure  of  life,  when  neighbours  are  real  friends,  and 
when  the  freedoms  of  friendship  are  taken  kindly  on  'botli 
sides. 

Obed  signifies  a  servant.  The  reason  why  they  gave  this 
name  to  the  child  seems  to  have  been,  that  they  hoped  he  would 
cherish  Naomi,  and  be  obedient  to  her  will  in  all  things  as  a 
servant.  Children  ought  to  serve  their  fathers  all  the  days  of 
their  life;  and  in  childhood  especially  they  ought  to  honour 
and  be  ready  to  serve,  not  only  their  parents,  but  other  friends 
of  mature  age.  Little  hope  is  to  be  entertained  of  those  pert 
children,  that  will  rather  do  what  they  please  than  what  they 
are  commanded  or  required  to  do,  by  those  to  whom  nature 
has  given  authority  over  them.  The  women  of  Bethlehem 
could  not  believe  that  the  son  of  Boaz  and  Euth  would  be  one 
of  those  unnatural  children,  who  refuse  to  their  parents,  im- 
mediate or  remote,  that  honour  to  which  they  are  entitled. 
*The  eye  that  despiseth  his  father,  and  refuseth  to  obey  his 
mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  it  out,  and  the 
young  eagles  shall  eat  it.'  'Honour  thy  father  and  mother,' 
and  all  that  stand  in  the  place  of  parents  to  thee,  'and  thy  days 
shall  be  many.'  We  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Obed  ful- 
filled the  hopes  of  the  women  of  Bethlehem,  and  the  following 
genealogy  gives  us  reason  to  think  that  he  lived  very  long  upon 
the  land  which  the  Lord  his  God  gave  him : 

He  is  the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David.  If  there  is  no 
omission  of  names  in  the  following  genealogy,  Obed's  grand- 
father was  one  of  the  princes  who  came  into  the  promised  land 
with  Joshua;  and  his  grandson,  David,  lived  within  four  years 
of  the  time  when  the  temple  of  Solomon  began  to  be  built.  We 
are  told,  1  Kings  vi.  that  the  temple  began  to  be  built  four 
hundred  and  eighty  years  after  the  coming  up  of  the  children 
of  Israel  from  the  land  of  Egypt.  Four  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  years  must  therefore  have  intervened  between  the  entrance 
into  Canaan,  when  Nahshon,  the  father  of  Salmon,  was  dead, 
and  the  death  of  David,  who  was  the  fifth  from  him  in  descent. 

Verses  18-22.  Now  these  are  the  generations  of  Pharez: 
Pharez  begat  Hezron,  and  Hezron  begat  Ram,  and  Ram  begat 
Amminadab,  and  Amminadab  begat  Nahshon,  and  Nahshon  be- 


1 44  THE  HISTOKY  LECT.  XII. 

(jat  Salmon,  and  Salmon  begat  Boaz,  and  Boaz  begat  Obed,  and 
Obed  begat  Jesse,  and  Jesse  begat  David. 

As  this  geuealogy  terminates  in  David,  it  appears  to  have 
been  written  in  his  time.  Although  he  was  anointed  with 
holy  oil,  he  was  not  ashamed  to  have  it  known  that  his  great- 
grand  mother  was  a  Moabitess,  and  that  she  had  once  been  a 
gleaner  of  corn  after  the  reapers.  The  family  of  David  was 
of  princely  extraction,  and  yet  several  of  them  seem  to  have 
been  remarkable  for  their  humility.  Salnion  married  Rahab 
the  Canaan itess.  We  have  seen  how  Boa^  married  a  poor 
Moabitess,  and  was  content  with  the  name  of  Obed  for  his  son. 
David  was  the  greatest  and  best  of  them  all,  and  no  less  em- 
inent for  his  humility  than  for  his  other  virtues.  'What  am 
I,  and  what  is  my  father's  house,  that  thou  hast  brought  me 
hitherto?' 

From  this  pedigree  of  David,  we  may  guess  for  what  reason 
he  committed  his  father  and  mother  to  the  king  of  Moab. 
Jesse's  grandmother  was  a  Moabitess.  It  is  not,  however,  prob- 
able that  his  parents  were  well  treated  by  that  prince.  When 
he  was  forced  out  of  the  land  of  Israel,  he  chose  rather  to  go 
to  Gath,  whose  mightiest  champion  he  had  killed,  than  to  go  to 
the  land  of  Moab. 

Ruth  not  only  became  a  mother  in  Israel,  but  the  mother 
of  the  best  and  greatest  men  in  Israel.  I  question  whether 
there  ever  was  a  line  of  kings  of  whom  such  a  large  proportion 
were  both  good  and  great  men  as  the  line  of  David. 

Infidels  have  no  just  pretence  for  alleging  that  it  was  im- 
])Ossible  there  could  be  so  few  generations  as  five  between  the 
departure  from  Egypt  and  the  building  of  the  temple,  at  the 
distance  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  years.  The  life  of  man 
wa.s,  indeed,  shortened  before  the  days  of  David,  and  even  from 
t  he  time  of  Closes,  to  its  presen  t  period.  What  then  ?  *  Is  the 
arm  of  the  Lord  shortened?'  He  can,  if  he  pleases,  give  as 
many  years  to  us  as  to  Methuselah.  It  is  very  probable  that 
many  of  our  Lord's  ancestors  were  eminent  for  corporeal 
vigour  and  longevity  as  well  as  for  better  qualities. 

But  how  are  infidels  sure  that  there  were  no  more  generations 
tlian  five?     Five  only  are  mentioned  here  and  in  other  places 


CHAP.  IV.  10-22.      THE  HISTORY  OF  BUTH.  145 

of  Scripture,  where  we  find  the  names  of  these  illustrious  men 
Lut  It  IS  well  known  that  the  Jews  did  not  reckon  themselves 
under  any  necessity  to  omit  no  names  in  their  genealoc^ical 
tables.  Four  kings  are  omitted  in  Matthew's  genealogy  of  our 
Lord.  I  mention  their  dignity  as  an  evidence  that  the  evan- 
gelist, although  he  had  not  been  infallibly  guided  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  could  not  be  ignorant  of  their  history  and  lineage. 

It  was  the  glory  of  Euth  to  have  David,  ^the  man  who  was 
raised  on  high,  the  anointed  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  the  sweet 
singer  of  Israel,'  mentioned  amongst  her  descendants.  The 
lineage  of  this  good  woman  here  ends  in  this  greatest  and  best 
of  kings;  this  eminent  pattern  set  before  all  kings  that  are 
blessed  with  the  knowledge  of  God,  for  their  model. 

But  it  is  a  far  greater  glory  that  we  find  not  only  her  hus- 
band's name,  but  her  own,  expressly  mentioned  amongst  the 
ancestors  of  our  Lord.  A  rich  recompense  was  given  her  by 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  under  whose  wings  she  came  from  the 
land  of  Moab  to  trust.  Yet  we  have  no  reason  to  envy  her 
glory  amongst  mothers.  We  are  related  to  Jesus  by  a  more 
endearing  and  a  closer  connection,  if  we  do  the  will  of  his 
Father.  ^He  that  doth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven,  the  same  is  my  mother,  and  sister,  and  brother.' 


10 


DISCOURSES 


ON  THE 


WHOLE  BOOK  OF  ESTHER. 


INTRODUCTION 

TO 

DISCOUESES  ON  ESTHER. 


Every  word  of  God  is  precious.  Let  no  man,  therefore, 
pretend  that  there  are  some  parts  of  the  Bible  from  which  he 
can  derive  little  instruction.  The  blame  is  in  yourselves,  if 
you  do  not  find  treasures  more  precious  than  gold,  in  that  in- 
exhaustible mine  of  sacred  knowledge,  the  Holy  Scripture. 

But  you  will  perhaps  say.  We  find  little  mention  of  the  name 
or  attributes  of  God,  and  still  less  mention  of  Christ  and  of 
salvation,  in  some  books,  or  portions  of  books,  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. In  the  whole  book  of  Esther,  for  instance,  the  name 
of  God  does  not  once  occur.  Can  that  book  come  from  God, 
or  give  us  instruction  in  the  knowledge  of  Him,  that  does  not 
once  make  mention  of  his  name? 

The  first  question  here  to  be  considered  is.  Whether  we  have 
any  good  proof  that  this  book  is  a  book  of  God  ?  If  we  have 
not,  let  us  hold  it  only  in  that  estimation  which  it  appears  to 
us,  after  reading  it,  to  deserve.  If  we  have,  we  ought  to  be 
assured,  that  it  is  '  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  cor- 
rection, for  instruction  in  righteousness  -/  and,  in  short,  that  it 
is  every  way  worthy  of  its  divine  xiuthor,  and  of  the  gracious 
design  for  which  he  caused  his  Word  to  be  published  to  the 
sons  of  men. 

That  it  is  divinely  inspired,  you  know  and  confess..    You 


loO  INTRODUCTION  TO 

have  the  same  reason,  indeed,  for  believing  that  it  comes  from 
God,  that  you  have  for  believing  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
other  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  To  the  Jews,  says  Paul, 
were  committed  the  oracles  of  God.  From  the  Jews,  who 
lived  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles,  we  are  author- 
ised to  receive  as  authentic  whatever  books  were  acknowledged 
by  their  church  as  parts  of  the  divine  oracles.  They  have  put 
into  our  hands  the  book  of  Esther,  as  well  as  the  books  of 
Moses :  And  although  some  have  pretended,  that  the  Jews 
treat  this  book  with  less  respect  than  their  other  Scriptures, 
because  the  name  of  God  is  not  found  in  it ;  yet  learned  men, 
better  informed  on  the  subject,  assure  us,  that  no  book  of  Scrip- 
ture, after  the  books  of  the  lawgiver,  is  held  in  higher  esti- 
mation by  the  Jews,  than  the  book  of  Esther. 

Is  the  name  of  God  not  in  this  book?  If  Hhe  wonderful 
works  of  God  declare  his  name  to  be  near,'  it  is  written  in 
large  characters  in  the  book  of  Esther ;  which  gives  us  an  ac- 
count of  one  of  the  most  wonderful  interpositions  of  God  in 
ancient  times,  for  the  salvation  of  his  people. 

Is  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  not  to  be  found  in 
this  book?  Are  we  not  taught  very  plainly  by  Moses,  and 
the  prophets  who  followed  him,  that  the  Son  of  God,  the  Angel 
of  his  presence,  in  whom  his  name  is,  was  the  Saviour  of  Israel 
in  every  age?  Exod.  iii.  2,  6,  15;  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  16;  Psalm 
Ixviii.  17-20.  Compare  Eph.  iv.  8-10.  Was  he  not,  then,  the 
Author  of  the  great  deliverance  wrought  for  his  people  in  the 
da}s  of  Esther?  and  do  we  not  learn  the  glory  of  his  grace, 
and  wisdom,  and  power,  from  this  work  of  his  hand? 

For  what  end  did  God  cause  his  ancient  oracles  to  be  written? 
Asaph  informs  us.  Psalm  Ixxviii.  5-8.  And  do  we  find  any 
of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  better  fitted  for  the  im- 
porUint  purpose  there  mentioned?  Do  we  not  learn  from  this 
book,  if  we  are  not  absolutely  unteachable,  to  'set  our  hope  in 
God,  and  not  to  forget  the  works  of  God,  but  to  keep  his  com- 
mandments?' 

But  let  us  read  this  book  with  attention.  Let  us  consider 
the  instructions  plainly  conveyed  in  it  to  our  minds.  Let  us 
meditate  upon  the  glorious  works  recorded  in  it.     Let  us  sup- 


DISCOURSES  ON   ESTHER.  151 

plicate  God  to  open  our  eyes,  that  we  may  see  the  wonderful 
things  of  his  law.  Then  shall  we  know  whether  this  book  is 
from  God  or  not.  In  the  mean  time,  we  need  not  trouble 
ourselves  with  the  question,  Why  the  name  of  God  is  not  to 
be  found,  in  the  letters  of  it,  in  this  book?  It  is  found  in  it 
in  such  a  form,  as  will  strike  with  admiration,  and  inspire  with 
holy  affections,  all  who  have  learned  that  ^  the  Lord  is  known 
by  the  judgments  which  he  executes.' 


152  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  I. 


DISCOURSE  I. 


AHASUERUS'S  FEAST. 
CHAPTER  I.  1-9. 


Verse  1. — Now  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Ahasiierus,  (this 
is  Ahasuerus  ivhich  reigned  from  India  even  unto  Ethiopia  j  over 
an  hundred  and  seven  and  twenty  provinces;) 

It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  seem  to  have  considered  the 
matter  with  most  attention,  that  the  Ahasuerus  here  mentioned 
was  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  one  of  the  most  humane  and 
most  prosperous  of  the  kings  of  Persia,  of  a  quite  different 
character  from  the  Ahasuerus  spoken  of  in  the  fourth  chapter 
of  the  book  of  Ezra. 

This  prince  was  lord  of  a  great  part  of  the  world.  He 
reigned  over  an  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces,  some  of 
them  large  enough  to  have  made  powerful  kingdoms.  What 
rich  gifts  hath  God  often  bestowed  on  men  who  know  him  not! 
Think  not,  however,  that  God  is  more  liberal  to  his  enemies 
than  to  his  friends.  Some  of  the  vilest  of  men  possessed  all 
the  great  and  large  dominions  of  the  Persian  empire.  But  if 
God  has  bestowed  on  you  the  least  measure  of  true  faith,  of 
unfeigned  love,  of  unaffected  humility,  he  hath  bestowed  on 
you  treasures  of  inestimably  greater  value  than  all  the  jDOSses- 
sions  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  or  of  Nero.  It  would  be 
unreasonable  and  impious  to  think,  that  his  donations  to  such 
men  as  t)ie  last  mentioned  prince,  the  disgrace  of  thrones,  could 
bear  any  proportion  in  value  with  his  gifts  to  the  poorest  and 
meanest  of  the  objects  of  his  special  love.  The  richest  of  earthly 
blessings  are  but  curses  to  those  who  are  not  enabled  to  make 
a  good  use  of  them.  Some  of  the  objects  of  the  love  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus  are  naked,  and  destitute  of  daily  food,  till  they 


CHAP.  I.  1-9.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  I50 

are  supplied  by  the  hand  of  charity;  but  they  are  'blessed 
with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  things  in  Christ.' 

Ahasuerus  reigned  from  India  even  to  Ethiopia:  A  vast  ex- 
tent of  country,  much  larger  than  the  dominions  of  David  or 
Solomon,  when  they  reached  'from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,'  or  of  the  land.  Why,  then,  did  God  so  often  speak  of 
the  vast  extent  of  dominion  given  to  these  princes,  as  a  testi- 
mony of  his  special  favour,  when  he  has  given  much  larger 
dominions  to  many  who  called  not  on  his  name?  The  extent 
of  the  dominions  of  David  and  Solomon  was  a  pledge  of  his 
kindness  to  them,  as  kings  of  his  own  people,  to  whom  God 
showed  forth  his  covenant-faithfulness,  not  only  in  giving 
them  the  large  inheritance  promised  to  their  fathers,  but  in 
making  them  'the  head,  and  not  the  tail,'  among  their  neigh- 
bours. David  and  Solomon  were  blessed  in  the  great  extent 
of  their  dominions,  because  the  sphere  of  their  usefulness  and 
virtues  was  thereby  enlarged.  A  curse  is  mingled  with  all 
the  prosperity  of  sinners,  because  they  know  not  how  to  use 
or  to  enjoy,  but  are  disposed,  by  their  corrupt  tempers,  to 
abuse  every  thing  which  they  possess.  But  it  is  chiefly  to  be 
observed  on  this  subject,  that  the  extent  of  the  dominion  given 
to  David  and  Solomon  is  to  be  considered  as  a  shadow  of  the 
vast  extent  of  dominion  which  was  to  be  given  to  the  true  Son 
of  David,  whom  all  people,  and  nations,  and  languages,  were 
to  obey.  Ahasuerus  reigned  from  India  toEthioj)ia.  David, 
in  the  person  of  his  glorious  Son,  was  to  be  'the  head  of  all 
the  heathen,'  of  all  the  nations  'from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to 
his  going  down.' 

Verses  2,  3. — That  in  those  days,  when  the  king  Ahasuerus 
sat  on  the  throne  of  his  kingdom,  ichich  ivas  in  Shushan  the  palace ^ 
in  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  lie  made  a  feast  unto  all  his  princes 
and  his  servants;  the  power  of  Persia  and  Media,  the  nobles  and 
princes  of  the  provinces,  being  before  him : 

This  prince  did  not  sit  quietly  on  the  throne  of  his  king- 
dom in  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  By  the  wicked  artifices  of 
Artabanus,  who  had  killed  his  father,  he  was  persuaded  to  kill 
his  own  brother,  Darius;  and  he  was  under  the  necessity  ot 
disputing  the  throne  with  another  brother,  whom  he  subdued, 


154  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [dISC.  I, 

after  detecting  and  punishing  the  wickedness  of  Artabanus, 
who  wished  to  destroy  him,  and  seize  his  throne.  When  he 
obtained  the  peaceable  and  secure  possession  of  his  throne 
and  kingdom,  he  made  a  feast,  that  his  princes  and  servants 
might  rejoice  with  him. 

*A  feast  is  made  for  laughter:'  And  we  do  not  blame  the 
prince  for  calling  his  ministers  and  princes  to  celebrate  a  fes- 
tival on  an  occasion  happy  for  himself,  and  for  his  kingdom. 
Yet  it  would  have  been  more  honourable  for  him  to  have 
feacited  less,  and  to  have  testified  his  joy  in  thanksgivings  to 
Him  ^by  whom  kings  reign';  and  at  the  same  time  his  grief, 
that  the  death  of  two  brothers  should  have  been  found  or  sup- 
posed necessary  to  his  own  security,  and  to  the  peace  of  the  em- 
pire. It  can  scarcely  be  supposed,  that  a  prince  so  humane 
Avould  ever  entirely  forgive  himself  for  the  death  of  his  elder 
brother,  when  he  found  that  there  was  not  the  least  ground  for 
those  reports  which  induced  him  to  consent  to  his  destruction. 
*But  the  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness;'  and  often  the 
policy  of  the  great  obliges  them  to  conceal  it  under  the  appear- 
ance of joy. 

Verse  4. —  When  he  showed  the  riches  of  his  glorious  kingdom^ 
and  the  honour  of  his  excellent  majesty,  many  days,  even  an  hun- 
dred and  fourscore  days. 

Many  days,  even  an  hundred  and  fourscore  days !  What 
intolerable  feasting  was  this  !  Did  not  the  king  see  that  he 
was  turning  a  pleasure  into  a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne? 
Who  would  not  rather  be  condemned  to  work  in  the  gallies 
lor  a  whole  year,  than  to  perpetual  feasting  for  the  half  of 
that  time?  Solomon  said  in  his  heart,  ^Go  to  now,*I  will 
jirove  thee  with  mirth ;  therefore  enjoy  pleasure.'  But  (possi- 
bly before  half  a  week  elapsed)  he  said,  ^  This  also  is  vanity.' 
He  'said  of  laughter.  It  is  madness;  and  of  mirth,  What  doth 
it?'  I  believe  all  those  princes,  who  had  the  honour  to  par- 
take of  Ahasuerus's  feast,  said  so  in  their  hearts,  whatever 
language  flattery  might  dictate  to  their  lips. 

Epicurus  himself,  who  placed  happiness  in  pleasure,  enjoined 
temperance  as  a  necessary  means  of  pleasure.  An  author  of 
our  own  nation  justly  observes,  that,  when  a  great  multitude 


CHAP.  I.  1-9.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  l^.^ 

of  alluring  dishes  are  set  upon  a  table,  a  wise  man  may  see 
palsies,  apoplexies,  and  other  grievous  or  mortal  distempers, 
lurking  amongst  them.  What  disorders  of  the  head,  of  tl)e 
stomach,  of  the  bowels,  of  the  spirits,  must  have  been  the  effect 
of  an  half  year's  gormandizing  and  drunkenness  (fur  the  l*er- 
sians  piqued  themselves  in  their  strength  to  drink  wine,  and 
mingle  strong  drink) !  Dearly  did  they  pay  for  their  enter- 
tainment. 

Poor  men,  who  are  unable  to  provide  for  themselves  any 
thing  beyond  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  are  apt  to  envy  those 
who  have  it  in  their  power  to  fare  sumptuously  every  day.  Be 
persuaded,  if  you  desire  to  be  content  with  your  condition, 
that  happiness  does  not  lie  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
which  a  man  possesseth,  or  in  the  rich  entertainments  which 
he  is  able  to  furnish  out  for  himself  or  his  friends.  A  person 
of  quality  *  observes  in  his  works,  that  'the  rich,  if  they  do  not 
in  many  things  conform  to  the  poor,  particularly  in  temperance 
(sometimes  even  abstinence)  and  labour,  will  be  the  worse,  and 
not  the  better,  for  their  riches.'  This  remark  he  makes  as  the 
result  of  his  own  large  compass  of  observation ;  for  he  had  been 
frequently  in  foreign  countries,  and  had  an  extensive  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great.  Could  not  Jesus  have  furnished  out  as 
elegant  an  entertainment  for  those  whom  he  fed  by  miracles,  as 
Ahasuerus  to  his  noble  guests  ?  And  yet  he  fed  them  only  with 
barley -loaves  and  fishes.  Could  not  God  have  brought  wine,  as 
easily  as  water,  out  of  the  rock  for  the  refreshment  of  his  people? 

But,  do  you  think  that  you  would  be  really  happy,  if  you 
were  admitted  to  a  banquet  as  rich,  and  of  as  long  continuance, 
as  that  of  Ahasuerus?  Well,  you  shall  have  a  feast  far  richer, 
and  of  far  longer  continuance,  if  you  will  believe  the  words  of 
Solomon,  and  follow  his  directions  :  '  He  that  is  of  a  merry  (or 
cheerful)  heart,  hath  a  continual  feast.'  '  Wisdom  hath  builded 
her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven  pillars,  she  hath  slain 
her  oxen,  she  hath  mingled  her  wine.'  Surely  the  feast  which 
wisdom  hath  provided,  the  eternal,  the  personal  Wisdom  of 
God,  is  as  much  richer  than  this  magnificent  feast  of  Ahasuerus, 
as  the  heaven  is  higher  than  the  earth.     True,  you  will  say; 

*Sir  William  Temple. 


156  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  I. 

uf  this  there  can  be  no  doubt :  but  where  are  the  happy  men 
that  are  invited  to  the  feast? — You  are  invited.  You  shall 
partake  of  this  precious  entertainment,  if  you  do  not  turn  a 
deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  eternal  Word:  'Whoso  is  simple/ 
says  the  Wisdom  of  God,  '  let  him  turn  in  hither :  Come,  eat 
of  my  bread,  and  drink  of  the  wine  which  I  have  mingled ; 
Prov.  ix.  4,  5. 

]\licn  he  showed  the  riches  of  his  glorious  kingdom, ^  and  the 
honour  of  his  excellent  majesty. — Poor  man  !  little  did  he  know 
wherein  true  riches,  and  glory,  aijd  royalty  consisted.  Happy 
were  those  kings  that  lived  in  Solomon's  days,  and  heard  his 
wisdom.  If  Ahasuerus  had  enjoyed  this  advantage,  he  would 
liavo  learnt,  that  the  land  is  to  be  pitied  Svhose  princes  eat  in 
the  morning,'  and  that  the  land  is  happy  '  whose  princes  eat 
in  due  season,  for  strength,  and  not  for  drunkenness.' 

It  is  said  of  the  father  of  Louis  XV.  King  of  France,  that 
when  his  preceptor  one  day  was  speaking  of  this  feast  of  Aha- 
suerus, and  wondered  how  the  Prince  of  Persia  could  find 
patience  for  such  a  long  feast,  he  replied,  that  his  wonder  was, 
how  he  could  defray  the  expense  of  it.  He  was  afraid,  that 
the  provinces  would  be  compelled  to  observe  a  fast  for  it.  On 
another  occasion,  the  same  prince  said,  that  he  did  not  under- 
stand how  a  king  should  taste  unmingled  joy  at  a  feast,  unless 
he  could  invite  all  his  subjects  to  partake;  or  unless  he  could 
be  assured,  at  least,  that  none  of  them  would  go  supperless  to 
bed.  Had  this  prince  lived  to  reign,  and  retained  such  senti- 
ments, he  would  have  taught  his  people,  by  their  happy  ex- 
j)erience,  wherein  the  true  glory  of  a  king  consists. 

Verse  5. — And  when  these  days  were  expired,  the  hing  made  a 
feant  unto  cdl  the  people  that  were  present  in  Shushan  the  palace, 
hoth  unto  great  and  small,  seven  days,  in  the  court  of  the  garden 
of  the  king^s  palace: 

This  generous  prince  did  not  despise  the  poor  of  his  peo- 
l)le;  but  wished  them  to  taste,  for  once,  of  his  bounty.  For 
small  and  great,  in  the  royal  city,  he  ordered  a  feast  of  seven 
days  to  be  prepared.  All  that  were  wise  among  them  would 
think  seven  days  enough,  or  too  much,  to  be  spent  in  eating 
and  drinking.  Job  thought  one  day  at  a  time  was  rather  too 
much  than  too  little,  to  be  employed  in  feasting.     In  the  days 


CHAP.  I.  1-9.]  'BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  157 

of  his  sons'  feasting,  he  was  afraid  that  in  tiieir  mirth  they 
might  lose  their  reverence  for  God,  and  provoke  liini  to  anger 
against  them  ;  and  therefore,  while  they  were  eating  and  drink- 
ing, he  was  praying  for  them,  that  they  might  be  preserved 
from  sin.  Christ  himself  sometimes  attended  feasts  in  tho 
days  of  his  abode  on  earth;  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  nn- 
Avorthy  of  his  followers,  on  proper  occasions,  to  partake  of  a 
feast.  But,  whatever  heathens  might  do,  let  the  followers  of 
Christ  endeavour,  on  festival  or  on  other  occasions,  to  behave 
as  Christ  did. 

As  the  king  of  Persia  could  not  furnish  a  house  for  so  many 
guests  as  were  invited  to  his  entertainment,  pavilions  were 
prepared  for  them  in  the  palace-garden. 

Verse  6. —  Where  were  white,  green,  and  blue  hangings,  fastened 
with  cords  of  fine  linen  and  purple  to  silver  rings,  and  pillars  of 
marble :  the  beds  were  of  gold  and  silver,  upon  a  pavement  of  red, 
and  blue,  and  white,  and  black,  marble. 

Learned  men  are  not  agreed  about  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
words  which  we  render  '  red,  and  blue,  and  black  marble.' 
Certain  it  is,  that  every  thing  on  this  occasion  was  suited  to 
the  state  of  the  king,  and  fitted  to  give  high  ideas  to  the  peo- 
ple of  his  riches  and  magnificence.  The  guests  would  reckon 
themselves  happy  to  be  admitted  to  the  view  of  such  splen- 
dour, and  to  take  their  seats  on  beds  of  gold  and  silver.  Yet 
it  is  questionable,  whether  their  pleasure  would  be  very  great 
at  the  end  of  the  first,  or  of  the  second  day.  Every  day  we 
behold  a  more  glorious  scene  in  the  canopy  of  the  heavens, 
spread  over  our  heads.  The  roses  and  the  lilies  which  adorn 
our  gardens,  are  more  beautiful  than  any  of  the  productions 
of  art  which  royal  wealth  can  call  forth.  ^The  earth  is  full 
of  God's  riches.  The  heavens  show  forth  his  glory.'  Those 
who  delight  to  have  their  eyes  and  their  minds  at  once  enter- 
tained, can  be  at  no  loss,  though  they  are  far  from  royal  palaces, 
when  the  earth  displays  her  beauty,  and  the  stars  their  glory. 

An  ancient  father,  when  he  first  set  his  foot  in  Rome,  at 
that  time  the  mistress  and  the  wonder  of  the  world,  made  this 
pious  observation:  'If  an  earthly  kingdom  is  so  glorious,  how 
glorious  must  the  New  Jerusalem  be!'     If  you  account  those 


158  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  I. 

men  happy  who  were  feasted  in  the  royal  gardens  of  Shushan, 
how  blessed  must  those  be,  who  are  admitted  to  an  eternal 
feast  in  Christ's  Father's  house !  Gold,  and  silver,  and  pearls, 
are  but  poor  emblems  of  its  celestial  splendour. 

Verse  7. — And  they  gave  them  drink  in  vessels  of  gold,  the 
vessels  being  diverse  one  from  another,  and  royal  tvine  in  abun- 
dance, according  to  the  state  of  the  king, 

A  certain  king,  asking  a  philosopher's  advice  how  he  should 
behave,  was  counselled  by  him,  *  always  to  remember  that  he 
was  a  king.'  Ahasuerus  remembered  that  he  was  a  king  in 
his  feasts.  His  wine  was  royal;  his  wine-vessels  were  of  gold: 
every  thing  was  ^according  to  the  state  of  the  king.' 

Blessed  are  they  that  shall  drink  new  wine  with  Christ  in 
his  Father's  kingdom  !  Every  thing  there  is  according  to  the 
state  of  the  King  of  kings.  His  entertainments  are  worthy 
of  his  infinite  grandeur  and  love.  If  all  wise  princes  make  it 
their  rule  to  be  like  themselves  in  every  thing  they  do,  it  is 
not  to  be  feared  that  God  will  ever  deny  Himself. 

Verse  8. — And  the  drinking  was  according  to  the  law;  none 
did  compel:  for  so  the  king  had  appointed  to  all  the  officers  of  his 
house,  that  they  should  do  according  to  every  man^s  pleasure. 

None  was  compelled  to  drink  less  or  more  than  he  pleased. 
The  king's  officers  had  positive  orders  to  leave  all  his  guests, 
poor  or  rich,  to  please  themselves  in  the  quantity  or  quality 
of  the  wine.  This  heathen  prince  behaved  better  than  many 
Christian  landlords;  if  we  can  call  those  men  Christians,  who 
tyrannize  over  the  will  and  consciences  of  their  guests,  by 
forcing  them  to  make  themselves  brutes,  and  to  expose  them- 
selves to  the  damnation  of  hell.  Are  not  men  made  brutes, 
when  they  are  compelled,  by  importunate  solicitations,  to  drink 
away  their  reason?  Is  not  drunkenness  one  of  those  'works 
of  the  flesh  which  bring  the  wrath  of  God  on  the  children  of 
disobedience'?  What  Habakkuk  says  to  the  king  of  Babylon, 
in  figurative  language,  is  true  in  the  literal  sense:  'Woe  unto 
him  that  givcth  his  neighbour  drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle 
to  him,  and  makest  him  drunken  also,  that  thou  mayest  look 
on  their  nakedness;'  Hab.  ii.  15. 

Wise  men  will  not  be  forced  by  any  consideration  to  eat  or 


CHAP.  I.  1-9.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  159 

drink  more  than  the  laws  of  temperance  allow.  They  will 
not  be  teazed  to  destroy  their  own  health,  or  tlieir  souls,  by 
drinking  the  healths  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  nation.  The 
man  who  would  compel  them  to  wound  their  own  souls,  by 
sinning  against  God,  they  will  view  in  no  better  a  light  than 
a  barbarian,  who  puts  a  sword  into  their  hands,  and  requires 
them  to  sheathe  it  in  their  own  bowels. 

It  was  the  law  of  the  Persians,  that  no  man  should  be  com- 
pelled to  drink  more  than  he  pleased ;  and  the  king  ordered 
this  law  to  be  observed  in  his  feast.  Did  an  absolute  prince 
pay  such  regard  to  the  laws  of  his  country,  and  to  the  liberty 
of  his  subjects?  and  shall  not  Christians  pay  an  equal  regard 
to  the  laws  of  their  religion?  Are  these  laws  less  obligatory 
upon  us  at  feasts,  than  on  other  occasions?  Shall  we  requite 
the  liberal  Giver  of  all  good  things  with  insults  on  his  au- 
thority, at  the  very  time  our  table  is  covered  by  his  bounty? 
'No;  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  in  every  thing  we  do,  we 
should  remember  the  chief  end  of  man. 

In  one  thing  we  ought  to  go  farther  than  the  Persian  prince. 
He  would  suffer  no  man  to  be  compelled  to  drink ;  We  should 
suffer  no  man  to  drink  too  much  in  our  houses  without  com- 
pulsion ;  otherwise,  we  are  accessory  to  the  guilt  and  ruin  of 
our  neighbour.  If  we  saw  him,  through  heedlessness,  in  dan- 
ger of  falling  over  a  precipice,  and  breaking  his  neck,  would 
we  not  reckon  it  an  act  of  charity  to  hold  him  back  by  force? 
If  we  saw  him  about  to  swallow  some  deadly  poison,  would 
we  not  seize  upon  the  vessel  which  contained  it,  and  cry  aloud 
to  him  to  do  himself  no  harm?  Perhaps  we  may  be  made  the 
song  of  fools  for  refusing  to  drunkards  the  means  of  gratifying 
their  intemperate  appetites.  But  better  to  be  the  song  of  fools, 
than  to  offend  God  by  neglecting  to  strive  against  sin.  If  we 
exercise  liberality  when  it  is  our  duty,  we  are  in  no  danger  of 
being  reputed  misers  for  exercising  our  authority  in  our  own 
houses,  in  matters  wherein  it  ought  to  be  exerted.* 

*  Dr.  Lawson  lived  at  a  time  long  before  the  modern  Temperance  JRe- 
formation  originated.  In  his  day,  a  moderate  indulgence  in  the  use  of 
intoxicating  beverages  on  festive,  and  indeed  we  may  say  on  ordinary, 


IGO  DISCOUKSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  I. 

Verse  9. — Also  Vashii  the  queen  made  a  feast  for  the  women, 
in  the  royal  house  ichich  belonged  to  King  Ahasuerus. 

The  King  did  not  grudge  to  his  queen,  and  to  the  women 
of  Shushan,  the  pleasures  which  he  allowed  to  himself  and  to 
his  male  subjects,  as  far  as  they  could  be  enjoyed  without  in- 
decency. It  would  have  been  dangerous  to  morals,  and  in- 
consistent with  received  usages,  for  the  queen  and  the  ladies 
of  Shushan  to  have  associated  with  the  other  sex  in  their  ban- 
quet ;  but  they  had  a  feast  by  themselves,  in  which  they  doubt- 
less respected  the  laws  of  decorum  and  temperance. 

It  has  been  justly  accounted  an  instance  of  grievous  tyranny 
amou^rst  the  nations  of  the  East,  that  the  women  are  excluded 
irom  society  with  men.  But  every  thing  may  be  carried  to 
excess.  How  many  mischiefs  does  the  unrestrained  intercourse 
of  the  sexes  occasion  in  many  public  diversions!  Let  not  wo- 
men be  locked  up  in  their  chambers,  as  if  they  were  criminals 
that  must  be  held  under  close  restraint;  but  let  them  not  use 
their  liberty  for  an  occasion  to  the  gratification  of  idleness,  or 
a  S2)irit  of  dissipation.  Let  them  beware  of  that  society  that 
would  corrupt  their  morals,  or  stain  their  character.  Let  them 
keep  at  a  distance  from  those  scenes  of  riot  and  festivity,  where 
'foolish  talking  and  jesting,  which  are  not  convenient,'  are 
likely  to  be  heard.  They  are  not  obedient  to  Christ,  speaking 
))y  his  apostles,  if  they  are  not  'keepers  at  home,'  and  if  'shame- 
i'accdness  and  sobriety'  are  not  better  'ornaments'  in  their  es- 
timation 'than  gold,  and  pearls,  and  costly  array.' 

occasions,  was  considered  fitting  and  proper;  and  conducive  to  health,  as 
well  as  essential  to  hospitality,  even  by  Christians  and  ministers  of  the 
Go.spel.  And  they  practised  according  to  their  light.  Yet  it  is  instruc- 
tive to  note,  that  the  essential  principle  of  the  modern  Temperance  re- 
lorniation  is  recognised  and  enforced  in  this  passage  by  our  author.  The 
(inly  dillerencc  is,  that  that  principle  is  now  extended  by  us  in  practice. 
Our  author  here  inculcates  the  obligation  of  'refusing  to  drunkards  the 
means  of  gratifying  their  intemperate  appetites';  v}e  now  go  farther,  in 
accordance  with  our  increased  light  and  knowledge,  and  insist  on  the  duty 
(*f  ourselves  abstaining  from,  and  witliholding  from  otlier^,  the  means  of 
J'onninrj  intemperate  appetites.  We  know  (what  our  fathers  did  not 
kn(»w,)  that  intoxicating  drinks  are  *  deadly  poison '  in  their  own  nature 
and  cfTects  to  all  who  indulge  in  their  use;  and  woe  will  be  unto  us  if 
we  do  not  obey  the  superior  light  we  enjoy. — Ed. 


DISC.  II.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  IGl 


DISCOURSE  II 


THE  DISOBEDIENCE  AND  DIVORCE  OF  VASHTI. 
CHAPTER  i.  10-22. 

Verses  10,  11. —  On  the  seventh  day,  ichen  the  heart  of  the  king 
was  merry  with  wine,  he  commanded  Mehuman,  Biztha,  Harhona, 
Bigtha,  and  Ahagtha,  Zethar,  and  Carcas,  the  seven  chamber- 
lains that  served  in  the  presence  of  Ahasuerus  the  king,  to  bring 
Vashti  the  queen  before  the  king  ivith  the  crown-royal,  to  show  tlie 
people  and  the  princes  her  beauty;  for  she  was  fair  to  look  on. 

^WiNE  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  raging;  and  whosoever 
is  deceived  thereby  is  not  wise.'  Ahasuerus  formerly  behaved 
like  a  king.  His  wine,  and  the  vessels  in  which  it  was  drunk, 
were  royal,  according  to  the  state  of  the  king;  but  now  his 
behaviour  is  like  one  of  the  vain  fellows.  He  boasts  of  the 
extraordinary  beauty  of  his  wife.  In  defiance  of  the  laws  of 
decency,  he  will  now  have  her  brought  into  a  drunken  as- 
sembly of  princes  and  peasants  for  a  public  show.  What  is  it 
that  has  thus  degraded  the  great  king?  An  honest  peasant, 
that  knows  how  to  guide  his  affairs,  and  to  govern  his  family 
with  discretion,  is  more  truly  royal  than  Ahasuerus,  exposing 
his  shame  before  his  people.  Wine  has  transformed  him  from 
a  king  to  a  clown,  or  something  below  a  clown.  It  is  said, 
that  the  Spartans  used  to  compel  their  slaves  to  intoxicate 
themselves,  that  they  might  show  them  in  their  cups  to  their 
children,  and  thus  produce  in  their  minds  a  perpetual  detes- 
tation of  this  worse  than  beastly  vice.  You  have  no  occasion 
to  bring  drunken  men  into  the  presence  of  your  childi'cn. 
Scripture  gives  you  pictures  of  this  vice,  sufficient  for  your 
admonition  and  theirs.  It  is  plain,  from  the  instance  before 
us,  that  a  sober  slave  is  more  respectable  than  a  drunken  king. 
11 


162  DISCOURSES   ox   THE  [d ISC.  II. 

*ThG  crown  of  the  wise  is  their  riches;  but  the  foolishness 
of  fools  is  folly.'  The  foolishness  of  rich  and  great  fools  is 
vfolly  in  its  exaltation.  The  great  king  sends  not  a  menial 
servant  on  the  foolish  business  of  bringing  Vashti  before  him; 
but  he  sends  seven  of  his  high  lords,  in  all  the  pomp  of  state, 
to  conduct  the  queen;  and  she  must  come  with  the  crown-royal 
upon  her  head,  that  not  only  Vashti,  but  royalty  itself,  might 
be  distrraced  in  her  person,  when  she  was  made  a  gazing-stock 
to  the  people  with  her  royal  ornaments. 

She  was  fair  to  look  upon ; — and  all  the  princes  and  the  peo- 
ple must,  for  once,  be  gratified  with  a  sight  of  her  charms,  that 
they  might  admire  the  king's  happiness  in  the  possession  of 
such  unrivalled  beauty.  Vain  man !  Did  he  not  know,  that 
the  most  glorious  beauty  of  the  human  face  is  but  a  fading 
flower?  Still  less  did  he  know,  that  this  beauty,  in  a  day's 
time,  would  be  no  longer  his  property,  and  that  he  would  lose 
the  possession  of  it  by  his  own  folly.  Let  those  who  have 
wives,  however  beautiful,  be  as  though  they  had  them  not; 
for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away. 

Verse  1 2. — But  the  queen  Vashti  refused  to  come  at  the  hinges 
commandment  hy  his  chamberlains:  therefore  was  the  king  very 
wroth,  and  his  anger  burned  in  him. 

Learn  from  this  part  of  the  history,  that  'favour  is  deceit- 
ful, and  beauty  is  vain;  but  a  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord, 
she  shall  be  praised.'  A  beautiful  woman,  destitute  of  virtu- 
ous principles,  will,  by  the  frowardness  of  her  temper,  and  her 
rebellion  against  those  whom  she  is  bound  to  obey,  discover  a 
soul  more  deformed  by  pride  and  selfishness,  than  her  body 
can  be  beautified  by  nature  and  art  combined :  but  a  woman 
that  feareth  the  Lord  will  cultivate  humility  and  self-denial. 
She  will  show  a  ready  disposition  to  give  honour  and  obedi- 
j'nce  to  whom  honour  and  obedience  are  due;  because  she 
makes  the  will  of  the  Lord  the  rule  of  her  conduct. 

Vashti  had  good  reason  to  beg  to  be  excused  from  appear- 
ing in  a  company  where  too  many  were  merry  with  wine;  and 
it  is  probable,  that  if  she  had  sent  her  humble  request  to  the 
king  to  spare  her  modesty,  he  might  have  recalled  his  orders. 
The  king's  word  was  not,  like  the  laws,  sealed  with  the  king's 


CHAP.  r.  10-22.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  163 

seal.  But  Vaslitl  gave  a  flat  and  unqualified  refusal  to  the 
king's  orders,  announced  by  his  honourable  princes.  She  very 
probably  thought  she  was  supporting  the  decorum  of  her  sex. 
But  in  the  judgment  of  the  king's  wisest  counsellors,  she  was 
exposing  herself  by  her  disobedience  to  just  punishment;  and 
she  was  really  acting  under  the  influence  of  pride,  covered 
with  the  appearance  of  modesty.  The  king's  command  was 
foolish;  but  her  disobedience  was  not  wise.  She  was  in  no 
danger  of  being  insulted  by  indecent  words,  or  wanton  glances, 
in  the  presence  of  her  ro3'al  husband,  whoee  frown  was  death  to 
his  subjects.  She  thought  she  was  supporting  the  honour  of 
her  sex.  But  did  she  not  see  that  she  was  affrontino;  her  hus- 
band,  and  her  king,  not  only  before  his  chamberlains,  but  before 
all  his  people?  If  he  suffered  his  own  fomily  to  trample  upon 
his  authority,  his  respectability  amongst  his  other  subjects 
must  have  been  greatly  lessened.  The  queen  is  the  first  sub- 
ject in  the  kingdom  ;  she  ought,  therefore,  to  go  before  all  the 
other  subjects,  in  showing  a  becoming  deference  to  the  king's 
pleasure.  In  like  manner,  the  wives  of  other  men  who  have 
servants  or  children  to  govern,  are  utterly  inexcusable,  if 
they  do  not,  by  such  obedience  as  is  required  from  wives,  ren- 
der the  authority  of  their  husbands  respected  in  the  family. 
This  is  a  matter  of  such  importance,  that  Paul  will  not  allow 
those  men  to  be  chosen  to  rule  in  the  church,  who  have  not 
the  power  to  govern  their  own  houses:  ^For  if  a  man,'  says 
he,  ^know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  rule 
the  church  of  God?' 

I  will  not  come,  said  Vashti ;  and  all  the  persuasions  of  the 
great  men  sent  to  conduct  her  could  not  prevail  upon  her  to 
give  satisfaction  to  the  king.  She  is  too  often  imitated  by 
women  who  have  promised  obedience  to  their  husbands.  They 
will  allege,  that  the  meaning  of  their  promise  was,  that  they 
were  to  obey  their  husbands  in  all  reasonable  things.  It  by 
reasonable  things  they  meant  things  in  which  they  could  give 
obedience  with  a  good  conscience,  the  limitation  would  be 
very  proper.  But  a  more  frequent  meaning  which  they  have 
for  the  expression  is,  things  which  please  their  own  humours. 
If  these  only  are  the  matters  in  which  they  are  disposed  to 


164  DISCOUKSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  II. 

yield  obedience,  the  promise  ought  never  to  have  been  made; 
for  whenever  they  conform  themselves  to  their  ov/n  humour, 
rather  than  to  the  known  will  of  their  husbands,  they  break 
a  solemn  promise;  and  thus,  in  the  course  of  their  lives,  heap 
guilt  upon  guilt  by  many  violations  of  the  covenant  of  their 
God. 

Let  us  not,  however,  overlook  another  observation  suggested 
bv  the  words  before  us,  for  the  admonition  of  husbands.  If 
thev  expect  due  obedience  from  their  wives,  let  them  be  al- 
ways reasonable  in  their  commands ;  otherwise,  half  the  guilt 
of  the  disobedience  of  their  wives  will  remain  with  themselves. 
You  see,  that  all  the  authority  of  the  greatest  king  in  the  world 
could  not  make  Yashti  obedient  to  a  foolish  command.  She 
will  rather  encounter  the  king's  wrath;  and  Hhe  wrath  of  a 
king:  is  like  messensiers  of  death.'  She  will  rather  risk  the 
loss  of  her  royal  dignity,  than  come  into  a  drunken  company, 
at  the  order  of  Ahasuerus  himself.  Never  impose  a  burden 
upon  your  wife,  which  either  female  delicacy,  or  her  particular 
temper,  which  you  ought  to  know,  will  render  too  heavy  for 
her  to  bear. 

Therefore  was  the  king  very  loroth,  and  his  anger  burned  in  him. 
— He  was  confounded  and  shocked  at  the  unexpected  disap- 
pointment. He  hoped  to  show  to  all  his  princes  and  people 
in  Shushan  how  happy  he  was,  and  only  showed  them  his 
miserv.  He  boasted  of  his  wife's  beauty ;  and  she  showed  how 
little  respect  she  entertained  for  her  husband  and  her  king. 
When  he  expected  the  readiest  obedience,  he  met  with  avowed 
rebellion.  The  person  most  indebted  to  him  in  all  his  do- 
minions, was  the  first  to  set  an  example  of  opposition  to  his 
will. 

Let  husbands  and  wives  remember,  that  there  are  no  per- 
sons in  the  world  from  whom  they  have  received  more  decisive 
tesLinionies  of  esteem  and  affection,  than  from  one  another; 
and  therefore,  that  there  are  no  persons  from  whom  any  in- 
stances of  disrespect  will  be  taken  in  worse  part,  unless  they 
have  obtained  a  great  command  of  their  temper.  Husbands! 
provoke  not  to  anger  your  wives,  who  have  placed  such  con- 
fidence in  you,  that  they  have  given  you  themselves.     AVives! 


CHAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK    OF   ESTHER.  165 

do  not  dishonour  those  husbands,  who  have  chosen  you  from 
among  all  the  rest  of  your  sex,  to  commit  to  you  the  care  of 
their  comfort  and  their  honour. 

Beware  of  being  too  easily  provoked  by  the  behaviour  of 
your  husbands  or  wives.  They  have  not  treated  you,  you  sav, 
as  they  ought  to  have  done.  It  may  be  so.  But,  perhaps,  if 
you  duly  consider  your  own  conduct,  you  may  find  that  a  part 
of  the  blame  is  your  own.  Was  Vashti  ever  wont  to  treat 
Ahasuerus  as  she  now  did?  No.  He  had  never  treated  her 
before  as  he  now  treated  her,  and  her  resentment  was  kindled 
at  the  indecent  proposal  of  being  made  a  spectacle  to  all  the 
people  in  Shushan.  She  could  not  be  justified;  but  if  Aha- 
suerus had  considered  how  much  of  the  blame  lay  upon  him- 
self, he  might  have  moderated  his  anger,  and  turned  a  great 
part  of  it  upon  himself. 

Verse  13. — Then  the  king  said  to  tJie  wise  men,  which  knew 
the  timeSy  {for  so  icas  the  king^s  manner  toivard  all  that  knew 
law  and  judgment: 

It  was  a  good  advice  given  to  Augustus  Csesar  by  the  phi- 
losopher Athenadorus,  when  he  found  himself  angry  never 
to  speak  or  act  under  the  influence  of  this  passion,  till  at  least 
he  had  repeated  the  Greek  alphabet.  By  the  time  when  he 
had  done  so,  the  philosopher  .thought  his  passion  would  be  so 
far  calmed,  that  his  judgment  would  have  liberty  to  operate. 
Ahasuerus  was  wise  in  taking  the  advice  of  his  wise  men,  when 
his  anger  burned  within  him,  before  he  would  inflict  any  pun- 
ishment on  Vashti.  He  would  have  acted  still  more  wisely, 
if  he  had  delayed  the  matter  till  his  passion  was  abated,  and 
till  he  considered  how  much  himself  was  to  blame. 

^In  the  multitude  of  counsellors  is  safety,'  says  Solomon. 
Not  only  kings,  but  also  private  persons,  often  need  wise  coun- 
sels, especially  when  they  are  hurried  away  by  their  passions. 
But  our  loss  is,  that  at  such  times  we  are  more  unfit  than  usual 
to  receive  counsel.  Anger  has  been  justly  said  to  be  a  short 
madness ;  and  yet  we  never  think  ourselves  so  wise  as  when 
this  fit  of  madness  is  upon  us. 

Every  man  is  not  fit  to  be  a  counsellor.  Ahasuerus  took 
advice  with  his  wise  men,  who  knew  the  times,  and  who  knew 


1G6  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  II. 

laws  and  judgment.  ^ Times '  sometimes  signify  the  events  that 
fall  out  in  different  periods;  1  Chron.  xxix.  idt.  Those  who 
in  this  sense  know  the  times,  are  eminently  fit  to  give  good 
counsel,  because,  from  what  has  been,  and  from  Avhat  has  been 
done,  we  may  form  a  good  conjecture  of  what  is  likely  to  be, 
or  to  be  done ;  Eccles.  i.  9,  10.  But  by  men  that  know  the 
times,  it  will  perhaps  be  better  to  understand  those  who  know 
what  is  fit  to  be  done  on  any  occasion.  The  princes  of  Issachar, 
in  the  days  of  David,  are  said  to  have  been  ^men  who  knew 
the  times,  what  Israel  ought  to  do.'  JSTo  kind  of  knowledge 
is  more  important  than  the  knowledge  of  the  times,  and  of  the 
duties  proper  to  them.  ^Because  man  knoweth  not  his  time,' 
says  Solomon,  'he  is  like  fishes  taken  in  an  evil  net,  and  like 
birds  caught  in  a  snare,  when  it  falleth  suddenly  upon  them.' 
Our  Lord  greatly  laments  the  ignorance  and  inconsideration 
which  made  the  people  of  Judea,  in  his  days,  careless  about 
the  sisrns  and  the  duties  of  the  times.     'O  that  thou  hadst 

o 

known,  thou  at  least,  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  that  belong 
to  thy  peace!' 

For  so  was  the  king^s  manner  toward  all  that  knew  law  and 
judgment. — It  was  customary  with  the  king  to  treat  with  high 
respect  men  of  knowledge  in  the  laws,  and  to  consult  them  in 
the  management  of  his  affairs.  Happy  is  the  land  that  is 
governed  by  kings  who  trust  not  to  their  own  understanding; 
who  highly  respect  the  laws,  and  make  use  of  wise  men  learned 
in  tlio  laws,  as  their  counsellors!  Such  was  Solomon's  dis- 
l»()sition.  Although  he  was  the  v/isest  of  men,  he  had  old 
counsellors,  whom  he  consulted  in  all  his  affairs.  And  it  was 
the  iblly  of  his  son  Rehoboam,  by  which  he  brought  unspeak- 
able mischief  on  himself,  and  upon  his  people,  that  he  for- 
sook tiie  old  counsellors  who  had  stood  before  his  father,  and 
hearkened  to  those  young  counsellors,  that  paid  much  more 
regard  to  their  own  passions,  and  the  king's,  than  to  laws  and 
judgment. 

It  was  one  great  loss,  however,  to  the  Persians,  and  to  all 
the  heathen  nations,  that  they  were  unacquainted  with  the  laws 
of  tli(!  I^ible.  There  were,  doubtless,  many  good  laws  among 
tlieni;  but  there  were  bad  laws  likewise;  such  as  that  made 


CriAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  107 

by  Darius,  that  no  god  or  man  (save  the  king  only)  shouhl 
have  any  supplication  presented  to  liim,  for  the  space  of  tliirtv 
days.     It  was  the  distinguishing  advantage  of  the  people  of 
God,  that  their  laws  were  the  perfection  of  wisdom ;  Dent.  iv. 
6-8.     Let  us  make  the  laws  of  God  the  subject  of  our  medita- 
tion day  and  night;  so  shall  we  attain  more  true  wisdom,  than 
the  wisest  heathen  sages  by  a  thousand  years  of  the  most  dili- 
gent study.     The  laws  of  the  Bible  will  direct  our  own  feet  in 
the  paths  of  peace,  and  enable  us  to  give  the  best  counsels  to 
our  neighbours.     ^Have  not  I  written  to  thee,'  says  one  of  the 
inspired  writers,  ^excellent  things  in  counsels  and  knowledge, 
that  I  might  make  thee  know  the  certainty  of  the  words  of 
truth;  that  thou  mightest  answer  the  words  of  truth  to  them 
that  send  unto  thee?' 

Verse  14. — And  the  next  unto  him  was  Carshena,  Shethar, 
Admatha,  Tarshish,  Meres,  Marsena,  and  Memucan,  the  seven 
princes  of  Persia  and  Media,  which  saw  the  hinges  face,  and 
which  sat  the  first  in  the  kingdom ;) 

The  kino-s  of  Persia  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  seen  bv 
their  people  promiscuously.  They  wished  to  be  accounted 
superior  to  other  mortals,  and  would  not  put  themselves  on  a 
level  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  by  exposing  themselves  to  the 
eyes  of  the  multitude.  Thus  they  gratified  their  pride  at  the 
expense  of  their  happiness  and  usefulness.  They  could  not  en- 
joy the  comforts  of  society,  nor  procure  the  information  which 
they  needed,  of  the  state  of  their  subjects  and  kingdom,  whilst 
they  secluded  themselves  from  their  people. 

But  there  were  seven  princes  of  Persia  and  Media  wlio  had 
a  right  by  law  to  see  the  face  of  their  sovereign.  It  was  highly 
necessary  that  these  men  should  exceed  their  fellow-subjects 
in  wisdom,  from  Avhom  the  king  was  to  receive  the  greatest 
part  of  his  information,  and  by  whose  counsels  he  was  to  regu- 
late his  measures.  But  it  cannot  be  reasonably  supposed,  that 
the  happiest  selection  should  always  be  made  of  men  intrusted 
with  such  privileges.  Those  who  wish  to  raise  themselves 
above  the  rank  of  mortals,  are  likeliest  of  all  others  to  fall  be- 
low it.     Few  men  in  Persia  were  likelv  to  know  less  of  the 


168  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [DISC.  II. 

real  state  of  the  kingdom,  than  a  king  whose  grandeur  ren- 
dered him  inaccessible  to  the  greater  part  of  his  subjects. 

Verse  15. —  What  shall  we  do  unto  the  queen  Vashti  according 
to  laxOf  because  she  hath  not  performed,  the  commandment  of  the 
hincf  Ahasuerus,  by  the  chamberlains? 

Inflamed  as  the  king  was  with  rage,  he  wishes  not  to  in- 
flict any  punishment  upon  the  queen,  but  such  as  the  laws 
warranted.  Absolute  princes,  in  their  anger,  commonly  make 
their  will  their  law;  but  this  humane  prince  makes  the  law 
his  will.  The  laws  of  kingdoms  may  be  unjust;  but  it  is  far 
better  to  be  governed  by  fixed  laws,  than  by  the  capricious 
wills  of  men. 

This  pagan  prince  sets  us  in  some  degree  an  example  for  the 
government  of  our  passions.  In  the  heat  of  his  rage,  he  seeks 
advice,  according  to  the  laws.  Are  you  angry  at  your  wife, 
or  at  any  body  else  ?  Before  you  give  vent  to  your  displeas- 
ure, inquire  what  you  may  do  to  the  offender,  not  according 
to  the  dictates  of  your  anger,  but  according  to  the  laws.  The 
laws  of  Persia  might  mislead  Ahasuerus,  although  they  were 
less  likely  to  do  so  than  his  own  passion.  You  have  for  your 
direction  the  law  of  Christ,  which  cannot  mislead  you.  Do 
you  ask,  what  ought  to  be  done,  according  to  this  law,  to  a  dis- 
obedient wife?  Endeavour  to  reclaim  her  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness.  It  does  not  permit  you  to  banish  her  from  your 
bed  and  house.  It  requires  you  still  to  love  her  as  your  own 
body;  to  temper  all  your  admonitions  with  love  ;  and  to  over- 
come evil  with  good. 

Verse  16. — And  Memucan  answered  before  the  king  and  the 
princes,  Vashti  the  queen  hath  not  done  wrong  to  the  king  only, 
but  also  to  all  the  princes,  and  to  all  the  people  that  are  in  all  the 
provinces  of  the  Icing  Ahasuerus. 

There  is  one  malignant  circumstance  in  open  sins,  which  is 
not  generally  considered  to  the  extent  it  deserves  ;  what  is  the 
influence  which  our  conduct  is  likely  to  have  upon  other  per- 
sons? Are  there  many  who  are  likely  to  follow  our  example? 
then  we  must  share  in  their  guilt.  We  arc  their  tempters  to 
sin.  You  know  under  what  infamy  the  name  of  Jeroboam, 
the  son  of  Nebat,  lies,  because  he  made  Israel  to  sin.     'Woe 


CHAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK   OF  ESTHER.  169 

to  the  world/  says  our  Lord,  *  because  of  offenses!  Offenses 
must  needs  come ;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense 
Cometh !' 

Vashti's  offense  was  likely  to  be  hurtful  to  all  the  princes 
and  people  of  all  the  great  and  large  dominions  of  King  Aha- 
suerus.  So  extensive  might  the  influence  of  the  queen^s  ex- 
ample be  expected  to  prove.  The  great  are  under  strong  ob- 
ligations to  be  circumspect.  The  greater  they  are,  the  greater 
will  the  influence  of  their  good  or  bad  behaviour  be,  and  there- 
fore, if  they  behave  ill,  their  grandeur  will  be  the  occasion  of 
their  greater  condemnation.  Yet,  let  not  persons  of  a  low  rank 
in  life  conclude,  that  they  may  take  liberties  to  themselves 
which  their  superiors  ought  not  to  take.  We  have  all  our 
sphere  of  influence.  If  we  are  possessed  of  Christian  charity, 
we  will  endeavour  to  do  good  to  all,  and  hurt  to  none;  Rom. 
xiii.  10. 

Verse  17. — For  this  deed  of  the  queen  shall  come  abroad  unto 
all  ivomen,  so  that  they  shall  despise  their  husbands  in  their  eyes, 
when  it  shall  be  reported,  The  king  Ahasuerus  commanded  Vashti 
the  queen  to  be  brought  in  before  him,  but  she  came  not. 

It  has  been  observed  by  heathen  authors,  that  all  the  world 
regulates  itself  by  the  example  of  the  king.  It  is  to  be  la- 
mented that  the  maxim  holds  too  much  even  among  Chris- 
tians, who  have  an  infinitely  better  model  for  their  behaviour 
than  the  example  of  princes.  If  any  man  saith  that  he  is  a 
Christian,  he  saith  that  he  abideth  in  Christ;  and  'if  any  man 
saith  that  he  abideth  in  him,  he  ought  himself  to  walk  even 
as  He  walked.'  And  yet,  how  common  is  it  for  those  who 
call  themselves  Christians,  to  be  conformed  to  this  world,  and 
to  think  that  they  can  never  degrade  themselves,  if  they  follow 
the  example  of  the  great !  Read  carefully  the  history  of  the 
bad  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  whose  example  their  people 
followed.  Did  God  count  it  any  extenuation  of  their  abomi- 
nable indolatries,  that  their  kings  led  the  way  in  their  wicked- 
ness? 'Ephraim  was  oppressed  and  broken  in  judgment,  be- 
cause he  willingly  walked  after  the  commandment,'  and  after 
the  example,  of  his  princes.  The  Jews,  in  a  subsequent  period, 
brought  calamities  upon  themselves,  greater  than  any  nation 


170  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  II. 

had  ever  suffered,  because  they  followed  the  example  of  their 
rulers  in  crucifying  Jesus,  and  rejecting  his  gospel.  We  are 
ready  to  follow  the  bad  examples  of  others,  chiefly  in  those 
evil  things  to  which  we  are  most  prompted  by  our  own  pre- 
vailing corruptions.  Submission  to  those  whom  God  hath 
placed  over  us,  is  a  duty  not  pleasant  to  our  corrupt  natures. 
Our  pride  continually  tempts  us  to  raise  ourselves  to  an  equality 
with  our  superiors.  For  this  reason  we  see  so  many  unduti- 
ful  sons,  so  many  disobedient  wives.  And  those  who  do  not 
willingly  subject  themselves  to  their  superiors,  are  glad  to  find 
examples  to  patronize  them.  If  queen  Vashti  refused  obedi- 
ence to  her  husband,  why  might  not  the  ladies  of  Persia  and 
Media  refuse  subjection  to  their  husbands  also?  And  if  both 
the  queen  and  inferior  ladies  refused  this  subjection,  why  might 
not  women  of  low  rank  follow  an  example  so  gratifying  to 
their  love  of  independence?  Can  any  husband  in  the  king's 
dominions  expect  greater  submission  from  his  wife  than  the 
kinor  himself? 

o 

Verse  18. — Likewise  shall  the  ladies  of  Persia  and  Media  say 
this  day  unto  all  the  hinges  jprinceSj  which  have  heard  of  the  deed, 
of  the  queen.  Then  shall  there  arise  too  much  contempt  and 
wrath. 

*  Likewise  shall  the  ladies  of  Persia  and  Media  say  this  day 
unto  all  the  king's  princes.' — The  king's  nobles  and  princes 
trembled  for  their  own  dignity  and  authority.  They  durst 
not  trust  the  good  sense  of  their  wives,  but  expected  that 
Vashti's  disobedience  would  by  all  of  them  be  made  a  pretext 
for  disobedience  to  themselves.  Their  fears  were  probably  too 
just.  What  could  be  expected  from  women  held  in  the  chains 
of  ignorance  and  slavery,  as  the  women  of  the  East  generally 
were,  but  that  they  would  embrace  every  opportunity,  and 
seize  every  pretext,  for  disentangling  themselves  from  their 
fetters?  Better  things  may  be  expected  from  women  in  our 
land,  who  are  trained  up  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  re- 
ligion, and  indulged  with  all  reasonable  liberty.  They  ought 
to  know  better  things  than  to  plead  the  example  of  the  great, 
as  if  it  were  the  rule  of  their  duty.  Our  gracious  queen  has 
always  set  a  good  example  of  conjugal  duty;  but  were  it  other- 


CHAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  171 

wise,  what  excuse  would  her  example  give  to  those  who  have 
been  taught,  that  God  requires  them  to  be  obedient  to  their 
husbands  in  all  things,  as  the  church  is  unto  the  Lord?  If 
the  great  should  take  the  road  that  leads  to  damnation,  will 
the  sight  of  their  misery  in  the  regiona  of  punishment  alleviate 
our  torments?  Or  will  it  be  any  comfort  to  the  damned,  that 
they  have  for  companions  in  misery  those  heads  that  were  once 
encircled  with  crowns?  If  so,  then  it  will  lessen  their  tor- 
ments that  they  are  to  be  associated  with  the  devil  and  his 
angels,  for  these  malignant  spirits  were  once  greater  than  the 
kings  of  any  land. 

Thus  shall  there  arise  too  much  contempt  and  wrath. — This 
would  be  the  natural  and  necessary  consequence  of  wives  de- 
spising their  husbands,  that  there  would  be  fierce  wrath  and 
endless  disputes  between  them.  When  authority  is  not  ac- 
knowledged in  a  kingdom,  there  must  be  wars  and  seditions 
without  hope  of  any  termination;  and  when  in  a  family  honour 
is  not  given  to  the  husband  and  father,  the  house  is  divided 
against  itself,  and  peace  and  comfort  are  banished. 

Wives!  be  obedient  to  your  own  husbands,  if  you  value  your 
peace  and  happiness  above  the  gratification  of  a  foolish  un- 
hallowed pride.  Think  not  that  you  can  ever  find  satisfaction 
in  the  indulgence  of  a  perverse,  rebellious,  and  imperious  dis- 
position. Your  husbands  know  that  you  have  no  title  to 
domineer  over  them,  and  must  be  provoked  at  that  insolence 
which  prompts  you  to  usurp  their  place.  Perhaps  they  may 
rather  yield  to  your  authority  than  live  in  perpetual  war,  but 
their  tempers  towards  you  will  be  soured.  Their  love  will 
be  turned  into  terror  and  aversion.  You  will  no  longer  be 
considered  by  them  as  their  dear  and  amiable  companions, 
but  as  their  tyrants.  Is  it  not  far  better  to  engage  their  love, 
than  to  be  feared  by  them?  You  cannot  blame  them  for  re- 
quiring obedience  from  you,  because  you  have  promised  it. 
But  when  you  require  subjection  to  your  government,  it  is 
impossible  that  they  should  not  be  aggrieved,  when  your  con- 
duct is  so  directly  the  reverse  of  your  promises,  and  of  the 
known  will  of  God? 

Contempt  and  wrath  in  families  is  an  evil  of  such  magni- 


172  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  II. 

tude,  that  the  princes  of  Persia  thought  it  necessary  to  use  the 
most  vigorous  and  severe  measures  to  prevent  it. 

Verse  19. — If  it  please  the  king,  let  there  go  a  royal  command- 
ment from  him,  and  let  it  be  written  among  the  laws  of  the  Persians 
and  the  Medes,  that  it  be  not  altered.  That  Vashti  come  no  more 
before  king  Ahasuerus;  and  let  the  king  give  her  royal  estate  un- 
to another  that  is  better  than  she. 

What  a  happy  difference  is  there  between  the  Christian  law 
and  the  laws  of  the  Persians,  if  Memucan's  advice  was  con- 
formable to  them !  It  is  true,  divorce  for  disobedience  might 
serve  the  purpose  which  he  had  in  view.  It  would  greatly 
strengthen  the  authority  of  husbands.  But  that  authority  in 
husbands  which  is  founded  in  terror,  cannot  contribute  to  the 
happiness  of  the  conjugal  life.  What  pleasure  can  it  give  to  a 
man  to  find  that  his  wife  is  careful  to  obey  him,  because  she 
dares  not  behave  otherwise?  Or,  why  should  laws  be  made 
to  secure  the  authority  of  men,  by  the  depression  and  misery 
of  their  wives  and  daughters?  The  Christian  law,  which  does 
not  allow  of  divorce,  ^saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,^  is 
acknowledged  by  the  best  writers,  even  of  those  who  little  re- 
gard the  authority  of  Christ,  to  be  exceedingly  conducive  to 
the  peace  of  families.  Wives,  if  they  be. not  very  inconsider- 
ate, will  see  it  necessary  to  submit  to  that  authority  from  which 
they  cannot  be  set  free  but  by  death :  On  the  other  hand,  hus- 
bands, if  they  are  not  fools,  will  use  their  authority  with  mild- 
ness, when  they  know,  that  if  they  provoke  their  wives  to  give 
them  disgust,  by  opposition  to  their  will,  they  must  bear  all 
the  miseries  of  a  warfare  which  can  be  terminated  only  by  the 
death  of  one  of  the  parties. 

The  Persians,  and  most  other  nations,  were  careful  to  sup- 
port the  authority  of  men  over  women.  But  they  paid  little 
regard  to  the  rights  of  women,  who  have  as  good  a  claim  to 
kind  usage,  as  men  have  to  authority.  And  it  will  always  be 
found,  that  where  selfishness  leads  us  to  maintain  our  own 
claims,  without  any  regard  to  the  just  claims  of  others  with 
whom  we  are  connected,  the  oppressed  will  find  the  means, 
one  way  or  other,  of  retaliating  upon  their  oppressors.  Tyrants 
may  find  submission  in  those  who  are  compelled  to  be  their 


CHAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  173 

slaves ;  but  the  submission  prompted  by  fear  is  attended  with 
aversion  or  discontent.  And  what  man  can  be  happy  in  see- 
ing misery  around  him,  the  fruit  of  his  own  hiwk'ss  pride? 
Or,  what  pleasure  can  he  take  in  the  submission  of  a  human 
creature,  whom  oppression  may  provoke  to  return  his  injuries 
by  some  methods  which  he  cannot  foresee  nor  prevent? 

Let  Vashti  be  deposed  from  her  royal  dignity,  and  her  royal 
state  be  given  to  one  that  is  better  than  she.— In  the  eyes  of  Aha- 
suerus,  Vashti  was  more  beautiful  than  any  woman  that  could 
have  been  put  in  her  place;  and  her  beauty  was  probably  the 
cause  of  her  elevation.  But  let  men  who  have  wives  to  choose 
know,  whatever  they  think  at  present,  that  they  will  soon  be 
convinced  from  experience,  that  there  are  qualities  in  women 
of  far  greater  importance  than  a  fine  set  of  features,  or  a  bloom- 
ing complexion.  In  the  married  state,  that  woman  who  is 
best  disposed  to  perform  her  duty  will  be  found  the  most  agree- 
able companion;  and  the  beauty  of  her  mind  will  soon  render 
her  more  lovely  to  the  eye  than  any  outward  form  would  do. 

Verse  20. — And  when  the  king^s  decree,  which  he  shall  make, 
shall  be  published  throughout  all  his  empire,  {for  it  is  great,)  all 
the  wives  shall  give  to  their  husbands  honour,  both  to  great  and 

small. 

This  decree  was,  indeed,  likely  to  inspire  all  the  wives  with 
fear  of  their  husbands.  But  was  it  not  as  likely  to  make  all 
the  husbands  tyrants?  If  the  king  tyrannizes  over  the  queen 
in  this  wide-extended  empire,  and  announces  his  own  example 
as  their  model,  will  not  all  husbands,  great  and  small,  learn 
to  rule  their  wives  with  a  rod  of  iron?  The  wives  wdl,  of 
consequence,  be  obedient  slaves  whilst  the  eyes  of  their  hus- 
bands are  upon  them,  but  will  not  cordially  promote  their  in- 
terests and  comfort.  Let  your  wives  be  sharers  in  your  happi- 
ness, if  you  wish  that  they  should  contribute  to  it.  Let  them 
be  treated  with  tenderness,  if  you  expect  sympathy  from  them 
in  your  distresses.  Let  not  their  faults  be  punished  with  rig- 
our, until  you  can  say,  that  your  behaviour  has  never  tempted 
them  to  commit  such  faults. 

Verse  21.— And  the  saying  pleased  the  king  and  the  princes; 
and  the  king  did  according  to  the  ivord  of  3Iemucan. 


174  DISCOURSES   OS   THE  [dISC.  II. 

We  do  not  wonder  that  the  king  was  pleased  with  a  pro- 
posal which  gratified  his  pride  and  his  anger.  The  princes 
too,  were  pleased  with  a  law  which  flattered  their  vanity,  and 
sanctioned  their  domestic  tyranny.  Had  they  been  taught  to 
love  their  neighbour  as  themselves,  no  law  would  have  ap- 
peared equitable  to  them  which  favoured  the  tyranny  of  the 
one-half  pf  the  human  race  over  the  other.  It  was,  indeed, 
highly  proper  that  the  laws  should  secure  the  authority  of  men 
in  their  own  houses;  but  this  might  have  been  as  effectually 
done  by  a  milder  punishment.  ^And  the  king  did  according 
to  the  word  of  Memucan;' 

Verse  22. — For  he  sent  letters  into  all  the  hinges  provinces,  into 
every  province  according  to  the,  icriting  tJ^reof,  and  to  every  peo- 
j)le  after  their  language,  that  every  man  should  hear  rule  in  his 
own  house,  and  that  it  should  be  published  according  to  the  lan- 
guage of  every  people. 

Great  care  is  taken  by  this  prince  to  prevent  the  bad  effects 
which  might  result  from  the  disobedience  of  Vashti.  He  not 
only  divorces  her,  but  publishes  a  decree  through  all  his  do- 
minions, that  every  man  should  bear  rule  in  his  own  house. 
He  was  afraid  that  a  spirit  of  independence  among  the  female 
sex  would  soon  spread  disorder  through  the  kingdom,  if  he 
did  not  take  strong  measures  to  counteract  the  bad  example 
set  by  the  queen.  It  is  certainly  the  duty  of  all  princes  to  do 
what  they  can  to  promote  good  order  in  their  dominions,  and 
to  prevent  or  suppress  every  immorality.  The  safety  and 
honour  of  a  prince  is  in  the  virtue,  as  well  as  in  the  multitude, 
of  his  people. 

Let  every  man  bear  rule  rn  his  own  house. — This  is  the  law  of 
God,  as  well  as  of  Ahasuerus.  Let  every  wife  willingly  sub- 
mit to  the  authority  of  her  husband  in  all  lawful  things.  Con- 
sider \vhat  miseries  you  may  bring  upon  yourselves  by  refusing 
<'()nipliancc  with  that  order  which  God  hath  settled  for  the 
peace  of  families.  What  did  Vashti  think  of  her  own  con- 
duct, when  she  lost  a  royal  diadem  by  one  act  of  disobedience? 
Did  she  not  curse  that  pride,  which  a  little  before  she  had  con- 
sidered as  an  instance  of  female  delicacy? 

You  cannot  lose  a  diadem  by  disobedience.     Your  husbands 


CHAP.  I.  10-22.]  BOOK    OF   ESTHER.  175 

cannot  divorce  you;  but  they  can  embitter  your  lives,  by  their 
resentment  of  your  conduct.  For  this  reason  you  ought  to  be- 
have well  in  the  married  state,  because  nothing  but  death  can 
dissolve  it,  and  therefore  the  whole  or  the  best  part  of  your 
days  are  likely  to  be  poisoned  by  discord,  if  you  do  not  con- 
tribute your  part  to  maintain  that  mutual  love  which  alone 
can  render  it  happy. 

You  will  not  lose  a  crown  of  gold  by  your  disobedience; 
but  you  may  lose  a  crown  more  precious  than  gold.  ^The 
hoary  head,'  either  in  man  or  woman,  ^is  a  crown  of  glory,  if 
it  be  found  in  the  way  of  righteousness.'  'A  virtuous  woman 
is  herself  a  crown  to  her  husband.'  Whether  would  you  clioose 
to  be  a  diadem  of  beauty  to  him,  or  to  be  ^rottenness  in  his 
bones'?  God  grant  us  grace  to  behave  in  such  a  ^Yay,  in  every 
situation  of  life,  that  some  of  the  wise  heathens  may  not  rise 
up  against  us  to  condemn  us  in  the  day  of  Christ! 


176  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [DISC.  III. 


DISCOURSE  III 


EXTRAORDINARY  IVIETHOD  USED  TO  SUPPLY  THE    PLACE    OF  VASHTI. 
CHAPTER  II.  1-11. 

Verse  1. — After  these  tilings,  when  the  ivrath  of  Jdng  Ahasuerus 
was  appeased,  he  remembered  Vashti,  and  ivhat  she  had  done,  and 
u'hat  was  decreed  against  her. 

Absolute  kings  are  envied  by  their  inferiors,  because  tliey 
can  do  whatever  they  please,  without  contradiction.  For  this 
very  reason  they  ought  to  be  pitied.  A  man  who  may  do  what 
he  pleases,  will  often  do  what  will  be  very  displeasing  to  him- 
self in  the  recollection.  Was  Alexander  the  Great  to  be  envied 
because  his  dominions  were  great,  and  his  power  absolute? 
He  did  not  think  so  himself,  wdien  in  his  pride  and  drunkenness 
he  had  killed  his  faithful  friend  Clitus,  and  would  next  have 
killed  himself,  i^f  be  had  not  been  forcibly  restrained.  When 
the  fury  of  Ahasuerus  against  Vashti  was  cooled,  did  he  re- 
joice in  that  absolute  power  by  which  he  was  enabled  so  easily 
to  take  severe  vengeance  on  her  disobedience?  Did  he  not 
envy  persons  of  a  private  condition,  whose  actions  are  placed 
under  such  restraints  that  they  cannot  expose  themselves  to 
such  terrible  remorses,  as  those  which  have  often  embittered 
the  days  of  kings? 

^  When  the  wrath  of  king  Ahasuerus  was  appeased,  he  re- 
membered Vashti.'— He  thought  upon  the  happy  days  he  had 
enjoyed  in  her  society;  upon  the  proofs  she  had  formerly  given 
liim  of  her  affection  and  obedience;  upon  the  folly  of  his  own 
conduct,  whicli  had  tempted  her,  for  once,  to  dispute  his  orders; 
upon  the  cruel  punishment  inflicted  on  her:  upon  the  imprac- 


CIIAI\  II.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTUEE.  177 

ticabllity  of  reversing  the  sentence  passed  against  her,  upon 
a  thousand  circumstances  which  added  to  the  disgust  of  his 
mind.  Kemorse  now  punished  him  almost  as  severely  as  his 
imperious  device  had  punished  the  unhappy  queen. 

Verses  2-4. — Then  said  the  hing\'i  servants j  that  ministered 
unto  Mm,  Let  there  be  fair  young  virgins  sought  for  the  hlng: 
And  let  the  king  appoint  officers  in  all  the  pjrovinccs  of  his  kingdom^ 
that  they  may  gather  together  all  the  fair  young  virgins  unto  Shu- 
shan  the  palace,  to  the  house  of  the  women,  unto  the  custody  of 
Hege  the  hinges  chamberlain,  keeper  of  the  women;  and  let  their 
things  for  purification  be  given  them:  and  let  the  maiden  which 
pleaseth  the  king  be  queen  instead  of  Vashti,  And  the  thing 
pleased  the  king;  and  he  did  so. 

^He  that  reproveth  a  man  shall  afterwards  find  more  favour 
than  he  that  flattereth  with  his  lips.'  If  the  king's  seven 
counsellors  had  advised  him  to  moderate  his  anger  against 
Vashti,  to  require  and  accept  from  her  such  acknowledgments 
of  her  fault  as  might  have  prevented  the  bad  effects  of  her  ex- 
ample, and  to  suffer  her  to  retain  her  royal  station,  he  would 
have  thanked  them,  when  his  anger  was  appeased.  They  seem 
to  have  been  apprehensive,  that  when  he  was  restored  to  him- 
self his  anger  would  be  turned  upon  them.  What  method 
must  be  taken  for  their  security?  It  would  be  inconsistent 
with  the  fundamental  laws  of  Persia  and  Media,  to  restore  the 
degraded  queen  to  her  rank.  Besides,  her  vengeance,  in  case 
of  her  restoration,  might  prove  fatal  to  the  authors  of  her  dis- 
grace. On  the  other  hand,  the  queen's  beauty  was  so  highly 
admired  by  the  king,  that  he  is  not  likely  to  forgive  the  ad- 
visers of  the  divorce,  unless  he  can  find  a  wife  equal  in  beauty. 
For  this  reason,  his  servants  (among  whom  his  great  counsel- 
lors were  the  chief)  advised  him,  by  means  of  proper  officers, 
to  collect  all  the  fairest  virgins  in  the  various  provinces  of  his 
dominions,  and  to  put  them  under  the  care  of  Hege,  the  cham- 
berlain, to  prepare  them  by  proper  purifications  for  converse 
with  the  king,  that  he  might  choose  out  of  them,  as  his  queen, 
the  fairest  woman  in  all  his  dominions,  or  (which  was  the  same 
thing  perhaps)  in  all  the  world. 

This  advice  appears  to  us  very  strange  and  very  barbarous. 
12 


178  DTSCOUESES   ON   THE  [dISC.  III. 

Must  the  king  engross  all  the  beauty  of  his  dominions,  by 
taking  to  himself,  as  his  queen  or  concubines,  all  the  beautiful 
young  women  that  could  be  found  in  all  his  provinces?  Are 
women  born  for  nothing  else,  but  to  be  the  property  of  any 
man  that  can  purchase  them  by  his  money,  or  tyrannize  over 
them  by  his  power?  Are  a  thousand  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  to  become  the  property  and  the  prisoners  of  one  man? 
If  the  king  is  so  fond  of  female  beauty,  he  should  remember 
that  other  men  feel  the  same  desires,  and  claim  the  same  right 
to  o-ratification  with  himself. 

The  king's  behaviour,  however,  was  such  as  might  have  been 
expected  in  a  country  where  men  thought  they  had  a  right  to 
multiply  wives  to  themselves,  if  they  had  the  means  of  pro- 
curing and  supporting  them.  AYhere  no  regard  is  paid  to 
equity  and  purity  of  conduct  amongst  a  people,  their  prince 
will  naturally  think  that  his  power  and  affluence  entitle  him 
to  superiority  in  the  inordinate  gratification  of  his  sensual  ap- 
petites. Where  reason  and  the  law  of  God  do  not  set  limits  to 
the  desires  of  men,  they  will  be  carried  beyond  all  bounds. 

How  much  are  we  indebted  to  the  Bible  for  present  as  well 
as  expected  happiness !  We  learn  from  it,  that  God  has  created 
one  man  for  one  woman.  We  could  not  value  its  discoveries 
too  highly,  were  it  only  for  the  accounts  that  it  gives  us  of 
creation,  and  of  the  great  law  of  marriage  resulting  from  it. 
The  knowledge  of  the  divine  authority  of  this  law,  that  a  man 
ought  to  have  only  one  wife,  is  equally  essential  to  the  happi- 
ness of  both  sexes  of  the  human  race.  Why  then  do  not  both 
men  and  women  resent  every  attempt  made  by  the  enemies  of 
religion  to  weaken  the  authority  of  a  book,  which  so  effectu- 
ally secures  the  natural  rights  of  the  male  as  well  as  of  the 
iemale  part  of  human  kind? 

The  thing  pleased  the  king,  and  he  did  so. — He  did  so,  be- 
because  it  pleased  him ;  but  he  ought  to  have  considered,  not 
only  his  own  wishes,  but  the  laws  of  justice  and  equity.  He 
was  not  blessed  with  the  knowledge  of  divine  revelation;  but 
did  not  his  own  heart  tell  him,  that  we  ought  to  do  nothing 
to  please  ourselves  that  is  oppressive  to  those  who  are  made 
of  the  same  materials,  and  have  the  same  feelings  with  our- 


CHAP.  II.  1-11.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  179 

selves?  If  Ahaslmcrus  had  not  been  a  king,  but  a  subject, 
would  he  have  thought  it  reasonable  that  kings  should  inclose 
all  the  beautiful  women  of  the  country  in  their  seraglios? 
Would  he  have  thought  it  reasonable,  in  that  case,  that  his 
own  sisters,  or  daughters,  should  have  been  immured  for  life 
within  the  walls  of  a  palace,  to  minister  occasionally  to  tli(i 
pleasures  of  a  prince,  if  he  should  think  of  sending  for  them; 
or  to  live  and  die  forgotten  by  their  capricious  lord? 

We  enjoy  the  inestimable  advantage  of  knowing  our  Lord's 
will  by  divine  revelation.  We  are  very  unworthy  of  that 
benefit,  if  we  do  what  comes  into  our  own  minds,  or  what  is 
suggested  to  us,  merely  because  it  plcaseth  us.  The  first  ques- 
tion Avith  us  ought  to  be.  How  we  are  to  walk  so  as  to  please 
God?  Nothing  is  a  surer  sign  of  reigning  depravity,  than  to 
prefer  the  pleasing  of  our  flesh  to  the  pleasing  of  Him  who 
made  us;  of  him  by  whom  we  must  be  judged  at  the  great  day. 
If  we  make  it  our  great  business  to  ^fulfil  the  desires  of  the 
flesh  and  of  the  mind,'  w^e  Svalk  according  to  the  course  of 
this  world,  according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.' 

Verses  5,  6. — Noiv  in  Shushan  (he  palace,  there  was  a  certain 
JeWy  ichose  name  was  Mordecaiy  the  son  of  Jair,  the  son  of  Shimei, 
the  son  of  Kish,  a  Benjamite;  who  had  been  carried  away  from 
Jerusalem,  ivith  the  cajptiv'ity  which  had  been  carried  away  icith 
Jeconiah,  king  of  Judah,  ivhom  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Ba- 
bylon had  carried  away. 

The  greatest  objection  against  the  opinion  that  Ahasuerus 
was  the  same  prince  who  is  called  Artaxerxes  in  the  books  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  is  taken  from  this  passage,  in  which 
Mordecai  is  said  to  have  been  carried  captive  with  Jeconiah 
king  of  Judah.  If  he  was  then  carried  captive,  he  must  now 
have  been  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  although 
he  w^as  afterwards  capable  of  exercising  the  office  of  Prime 
minister  to  the  king  of  Persia. 

It  is,  indeed,  improbable,  though  not  impossible,  that  Mor- 
decai might  live,  and  be  fit  for  business  at  this  great  age.  We 
have  often  heard  of  a  Countess  of  Desmond,  who  lived  and 
enjoyed  health  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  She  lived 
during  the  reigns  of  Edward  V.  and  his  successors,  to  the  reign 


180  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  III. 

of  James  1.  In  the  reii^n  of  Charles  I.  John  Par  lived  to  the 
acre  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two;  and,  in  the  following  reign, 
Charles  Jenkin  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine.  Scrip- 
ture itself  informs  us  of  a  man  who  was  a  prime  minister  in 
the  end  of  his  life,  although  he  died  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years;  2  Kings,  xii. 

But,  perhaps,  it  is  more  to  the  purpose  to  observe,  that  in 
the  time  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  Ezra  often  speaks  of  the 
]>eople  of  the  Jews  as  if  they  had  been  captives  in  Babylon, 
although  it  is  certain  that  very  few  of  them  had  ever  seen  that 
land  of  captivity.  ^Thus  were  assembled  unto  me,'  says  that 
inspired  historian,  ^  every  one  that  trembled  at  the  words  of 
the  God  of  Israel,  because  of  the  transgression  of  them  that 
had  been  carried  away  captive/  These  words  refer  to  an  event 
that  happened  in  the  very  year  when  Esther  became  queen  of 
Persia,  if  Ahasuerus  was  the  same  with  Artaxerxes;  and  yet 
the  people  are  said  to  have  been  carried  away  captive.  They 
certainly  were  not  carried  away  captive  in  their  own  persons, 
but  in  the  persons  of  their  ancestors.  Why  may  we  not  sup- 
pose, that  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Esther  uses  the  same  mode 
of  expression  in  speaking  of  Mordecai? 

A  still  easier  solution  has  been  given  of  this  difficulty,  by 
referring  what  is  said  in  the  beginning  of  the  6th  verse,  not  to 
Mordecai,  but  to  Kish,  his  progenitor. 

But  why  was  Mordecai  in  Shushan  the  palace,  when  the 
Lord  had  turned  again  the  captivity  of  his  people?  Why  did 
he  not  rather  reside  in  the  Holy  Land,  that  he  might  be  near 
the  house  of  the  Lord?  Was  he  not  of  a  very  different  spirit 
from  David,  whose  great  desire  was  to  dwell  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord  all  the  days  of  his  life?  We  cannot,  without  rash- 
ness, condemn  the  good  man  for  this  part  of  his  conduct.  Even 
Daniel  continued  in  Babylon  after  the  proclamation  of  liberty 
to  the  Lord's  captives.  Both  these  men,  doubtless,  loved  the 
habitation  of  the  Lord's  house;  but  they  might  have  reasons 
which  entirely  justified  their  continuance  in  a  foreign  land. 
It  was  love  to  the  habitation  of  the  Lord  that  fixed  Daniel  at 
a  distance  from  it,  where  he  could  perform  services  to  Jerusa- 
lem, whicli  he  could  not  have  performed  o,t  Jerusalem  itself. 


CHAP.  II.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  181 

This,  too,  was  Nehemiah's  motive  for  residing  at  the  king's 
court;  and  the  same,  in  all  probability,  was  the  motive  which 
induced  Mordccai  to  dwell  in  Shushan. 

Verse  7. — And  he  brought  up  Hadassah  {that  is  Esther)  Jiis 
uncle^s  daughter;  for  she  had  neither  father  nor  mother,  and  the 
maid  was  fair  and  beautiful;  ichoni  Mordccai  {when  her  father 
and  mother  were  dead)  took  for  his  oxen  daughter. 

Hadassah,  otherwise  called  Esther,  was  daughter  to  an  uncle 
of  Mordccai.  It  is  uncertain  whether  she  was  the  immediate 
dausfhter,  or  more  remote  descendant  of  Mordecai's  uncle,  for 
it  is  well  known  that  the  word  daughter  may,  with  equal  pro- 
priety, be  taken  in  either  of  these  senses.  She  must,  at  least, 
have  been  much  younger  than  Mordccai,  who  took  her  not  as 
a  companion,  or  a  wife,  but  as  a  daughter,  her  father  and 
mother  being  dead.  He  performed  a  kind  and  laudable  action 
to  this  poor  orphan;  and  was  well  rewarded  for  it  by  the  grati- 
tude of  Esther,  and  by  the  liberality  of  divine  providence. 

It  is  lamentable  for  poor  infants,  especially  of  the  weaker 
sex,  to  be  bereaved  of  both  their  parents.  But,  blessed  be  the 
Father  of  the  fatherless!  they  often  find  friends  no  less  kind, 
and  no  less  useful,  than  fathers  or  mothers.  Let  young  per- 
sons deprived  of  their  parents  learn  to  say,  ^Though  my  father 
and  mother  both  should  leave  me,  the  Lord  will  take  me  up.' 
Esther,  through  the  favour  of  Providence,  was  well  educated 
by  a  cousin;  and  was  advanced  to  the  highest  dignity  which 
could  be  conferred  on  her  sex,  although  she  neither  expected, 
nor  perhaps  desired  it. 

Yerse  8. — So  it  cam^e  to  pass,  when  the  king's  commandment 
and  his  decree  was  heard,  and  when  many  maidens  were  gathered 
together  unto  Shushan  the  palace,  to  the  custody  of  Ilegai,  that 
Esther  was  brought  also  unto  the  king's  house,  to  the  custody  of 
Ilegai,  keeper  of  the  v^omen. 

Poor  Esther,  who  had  been  so  kindly  cherished  by  Mordccai, 
was  now  led  away  from  his  house  to  be  the  slave,  or  the  be- 
loved wife,  of  the  great  king,  as  his  caprice  should  determine. 
Her  consent  was  not  asked;  the  consent  of  Mordccai,  her 
adoptive  father,  was  not  asked.  They  were  both  slaves  to  a 
despotic  master.     Blame  not  Esther,  therefore,  but  pity  her, 


1S2  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  III. 

when  you  hear  that,  like  so  many  other  maidens,  she  was  led 
away  to  the  house  of  the  king's  women.  Think  not  that  she 
sets  you  an  example  of  entering  into  marriage-connections  with 
a  partner  of  a  false  religion.  She  was  not  an  actor,  but  a  suf- 
ferer. Had  she  been  left  to  her  choice,  it  is  probable  she  would 
have  chosen  the  poorest  Jew  that  was  faithful  to  his  religion 
for  her  luisband,  in  preference  to  the  great  king. 

Some  young  women  may  think  it  hard  to  be  under  the  au- 
thority of  parents,  and  under  the  necessity  of  paying  great 
deference  to  their  counsels  in  the  choice  of  a  husband.  Be 
thankful  that  you  are  under  the  direction  of  such  affectionate 
friends,  rather  than  under  the  command  of  an  unfeeling  lord. 
How  glad  would  Esther  have  been  to  be  left  under  the  direc- 
tion of  her  second  father !  The  time  has  been  when,  even  in 
England,  many  young  women  were  under  the  controul  of 
haughty  lords,  who  disposed  of  them  in  marriage  at  their  pleas- 
ure. 

Verse  9. — And  the  maiden  pleased  him,  and  she  obtained  kind- 
')icss  of  him;  and  he  speedily  gave  her  her  things  for  purification , 
with  such  things  as  belonged  to  her,  and  seven  maidens,  which 
were  meet  to  be  given  her,  out  of  the  king\s  house:  and  he  preferred 
her  and  her  maids  unto  the  best  place  of  the  house  of  the  loomen, 

Esther's  singular  beauty,  her  modesty,  her  unaffected  sim- 
])]icity  of  dress  and  behaviour,  appear  to  have  engaged  the 
affection  of  all  that  conversed  with  her.  It  was  God  that  gave 
her  these  lovely  endowments  which  captivated  all  hearts.  It 
was  God  that  gave  her  favour  in  the  eyes  of  beholders.  She 
was,  no  doubt,  deeply  affected  with  the  thought  of  separation 
liuni  her  beloved  father,  to  be  put  under  the  government  of 
strangers,  and  to  enter  into  involuntary  competition  with  so 
many  beauties  for  the  possession  of  the  king's  heart.  She  was 
certainly  of  the  temper  of  the  Shunamite  who  said  to  Elisha, 
M  dwell  amongst  mine  own  people;'  but  God,  for  gracious 
ends,  j)erniitted  her  not  to  enjoy  her  wishes.  He  consoles  her, 
however,  by  the  favour  that  he  gave  her  in  the  eyes  of  the  man 
to  whose  care  she  is  committed.  His  respect  and  attention 
made  the  change  of  her  condition  less  painful  to  her.  Every 
thing  was  done  for  her  that  she  could  wish,  to  make  her  con- 


CHAP.  II.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  183 

finement  easy.  She  liaJ  lier  things  fur  purification  given  her. 
She  had  seven  maids  given  her  to  wait  upon  her.  She  liad 
the  best  apartments  in  the  house  of  the  virgins.  All  the  pres- 
ents allowed  by  the  king  to  his  women  were  readily  given  her 
by  Hegai  with  a  good  grace,  and  without  any  means  used  on 
her  part  to  obtain  them.  This  favour  of  the  chamberlain 
might  be  considered  by  her  as  a  pledge  of  the  care  that  divine 
Providence  took  of  her  comfort,  and  a  presage  of  the  favour 
that  she  might  expect  from  the  king  himself,  when  the  year 
was  expired. 

Verse  10. — Esther  had  not  showed  her  people j  nor  her  kindred; 
for  llordecai  had  charged  her,  that  she  should  not  show  it. 

We  must  never  be  ashamed  of  our  people,  or  our  kindred, 
especially  when  we  have  the  honour  to  be  related  to  the  godly. 
Yet  it  may  be,  on  many  occasions,  a  part  of  prudence  to  say 
little  or  nothing  of  our  connections.  We  must  never  be 
ashamed  of  our  religion,  if  we  desire  that  Christ  may  not  be 
ashamed  of  us  at  the  day  of  his  appearance.  Yet  there  is  a 
time  to  be  silent,  as  well  as  to  speak,  of  that  blessed  name  by 
which  we  are  called.  Mordecai  knew  that  many  hated  the 
Jews  and  their  religion,  and  that  Esther,  by  publishing  her 
connection  with  them,  might  procure  malevolence  to  herself, 
without  serving  the  cause  of  her  people.  ^  A  wise  man^s  heart 
discerneth  both  time  and  judgment.' 

Esthej.''s  obedience  to  Mordecai  is  no  less  worthy  of  attention 
and  imitation,  than  Mordecai's  prudence.  Let  young  women 
learn  from  her  to  pay  a  due  deference  to  the  instruction  of 
their  parents,  not  only  when  under  their  eyes,  but  when  they 
are  removed  from  them.  What  miseries  to  young  people  might 
be  prevented,  what  happiness  might  they  enjoy,  would  they 
but  cease  from  their  own  wisdom  and  humour,  and  obey  those 
whom  God  commands  them  to  obey ! 

Verse  11. — And  Mordecai  walked  every  day  before  the  court 
of  the  women's  house,  to  know  how  Esther  did,  and  what  should 
become  of  her. 

Mordecai,  though  the  adoptive  father  of  Esther,  was  not 
permitted  to  visit  her.  How  much  better  are  our  laws  calcu- 
lated than  those  of  the  eastern  nations,  for  the  comfort  of  hu- 


184  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [DISC.  HI. 

man  life !  Let  us  be  thankful  for  our  advantages  of  free  in- 
tercourse with  our  friends,  and  ^not  use  our  liberty  for  a  cloak 
of  licentiousness/ 

Mordecai  did  not  forget  his  favourite  cousin  when  she  was 
taken  from  him.  He  took  care  to  be  informed  daily  of  her 
health  and  welfare.  Our  friends  ought  not  to  be  out  of  our 
mind,  when  they  are  removed  from  our  sight.  We  may  be 
useful  to  them  by  our  prayers,  and  by  other  means,  when  we 
cannot  see  them.  When  Paul  was  distant  from  the  Christians 
whom  he  loved,  he  was  always  desirous  to  know  their  circum- 
stances, and  to  inform  them  of  his  own;  Eph.  vi.  22.    . 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK   OP  ESTHER.  Ig5 


DISCOURSE  IV. 


ESTHER  MADE  QUEEN  OF  PERSIA — BY  HER  MEANS   MORDECAI  DIS- 
COVERS TO  THE  KING  A  CONSPIRACY  FORMED  AGAINST  HIS  LIFE. 

CHAPTER  II.  12-23. 

Verse  12. — Now,  when  every  maicVs  turn  was  come  to  go  in  to 
Icing  Ahasuerus,  after  that  she  had  been  twelve  raontlis,  according 
to  the  manner  of  the  women,  [for  so  were  the  days  of  their  purifica- 
tions accomplished,  to  wit,  six  months  with  oil  of  myrrh,  and  six 
months  with  sweet  odours,  and  wiQi  other  things  for  the  purifying 
of  the  women;) 

The  pleasures  of  sensuality  were  carried  to  the  highest  ex- 
cess by  those  men  who  ruled  over  the  Persian  empire.  The 
women  designed  for  their  embraces  were  obliged  to  undergo 
a  wearisome  purification,  to  render  them  the  more  agreeable 
to  their  pampered  lords.  Their  eyes  and  their  nostrils  must 
be  at  once  regaled  by  the  presence  of  their  beauteous  compan- 
ions. Voluptuousness  must  be  turned  into  an  art,  and  a  toil, 
to  gratify  their  senses.  Had  they  never  learned,  that  they  who 
devote  themselves  to  pleasure  destroy  it?  Moderation  in  the 
pleasures  of  sense  is  necessary  for  the  enjoyment  of  them ;  and 
those  who  can  relish  pleasure  only  in  excess,  prepare  for  them- 
selves satiety,  disappointment,  or  chagrin.  If  we  will  not 
regulate  our  enjoyments  by  the  laws  of  God,  made  known  to 
us  by  reason,  religion,  and  experience,  our  pleasures  will  end 
in  the  worst  of  pains. 

Verses  13,  14. — Then  thus  came  every  maiden  unto  Hie  king; 
whatsoever  she  desired  was  given  her,  to  go  with  her  out  of  the 
house  of  the  loomen  unto  the  king's  house.  In  the  evening  she 
went,  and  on  the  morrow  she  returned  into  the  second  house  of  the 


18G  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IV. 

women  J  to  the  custody  of  Shaashgaz,  the  king's  chamherlainj  which 
kept  the  concubines:  she  came  in  unto  the  king  no  more,  except  the 
king  delighted  in  her,  and  that  she  ivere  called  by  name. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  those  wretched  beauties  that  were  col- 
lected for  the  king's  pleasure.  They  were  gratified  with  rich 
presents.  They  might  have  what  jewels  or  what  ornaments 
they  desired,  when  they  were  first  admitted  to  the  king's  pres- 
ence. But  when  they  became  his  concubines,  or  secondary 
wives,  and  were  committed  to  the  custody  of  Shaashgaz,  to  be 
held  in  captivity  for  life,  they  were  not  so  much  as  admitted 
into  the  king's  presence,  unless  he  was  pleased  to  call  them  by 
name.  How  much  better  was  it  to  be  the  wife  of  a  peasant, 
than  to  be  a  concubine  to  the  great  king?  And  the  peasant 
who  loves  his  wife,  and  is  beloved  by  her,  enjoys  pleasures 
which  princes  who  love  none  but  themselves  cannot  taste. 

Verse  15. — Now  when  the  turn  of  Esther,  the  daughter  of  Abi- 
hail  the  uncle  of  Mordecai,  (ivho  had  taken  her  for  his  daughter,) 
luas  come  to  go  in  unto  the  king,  she  required  nothing  but  what 
Hegai,  the  king's  chamberlain,  the  keeper  of  the  women,  appointed. 
And  Esther  obtained  favour  in  the  sight  of  all  them  that  looked 
upon  her. 

Esther  had  no  wish  to  set  off  her  beauty  by  such  ornaments. 
She  asked  nothing  from  Hegai,  although  she  had  the  com- 
plaisance to  put  on  the  ornaments  which  he  gave  her.  Vanity 
very  often  disappoints  itself:  and  no  women  are  so  beautiful 
in  the  eyes  of  beholders,  as  those  that  discover  the  least  desire 
of  admiration.  Esther  obtained  favour  with  her  unaffected 
ornaments  in  the  eyes  of  Hegai,  in  the  eyes  of  all  beholders, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  king  himself. 

Verse  16. — So  Esther  ivas  taken  unto  king  Ahasuerus,  into  his 
house  royal,  in  the  tenth  month,  {which  is  the  month  Tebeth),  in  the 
seventh  year  of  his  reign. 

For  the  space  of  four  years  Vashti's  place  was  unoccupied. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  the  king,  who  divided  his  love  (if  it 
may  be  called  love)  amongst  so  many  women,  should  so  long 
want  a  partner  to  his  crown.  He  knew  not  the  true  pleasure 
of  the  conjugal  life.     He  discerned,  however,  other  qualities 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  137 

besides  beauty,  in  Esther.     He  found  lier  mind  still  more 
charming  than  her  face. 

Verse  17. — And  the  king  loved  Esther  above  all  the  tvomen, 
and  she  obtained  grace  and  favour  in  his  sight,  more  than  all  the 
virgins;  so  that  he  set  the  royal  crown  upon  her  head,  and  made 
her  queen  instead  of  Vashtl. 

What  a  surprising  revolution  took  place  in  the  fortune  of  this 
orphan  daughter  of  Abihail !  Among  so  many  hundreds  of 
competitors,  she  could  have  but  a  poor  prospect  of  rising  above 
the  rank  of  a  concubine.  But  the  king  was  charmed  with  her 
beauteous  countenance,  the  indication  of  a  virtuous  mind ;  and 
set  the  crown-royal  upon  her  head. 

We  are  not,  however,  to  ascribe  this  change  in  her  circum- 
stances so  much  to  the  king's  admiration  either  of  her  person 
or  mind,  as  to  the  over-ruling  providence  of  God ;  in  whose 
Jiand  are  the  hearts  of  kings,  to  be  more  easily  turned  by  him 
whithersoever  he  wills,  than  the  rills  of  water  in  a  field  can  be 
turned  by  the  husbandman  to  water  his  ground.  The  same 
gracious  providence  which  exalted  Joseph  to  be  lord  over 
Egypt,  that  he  might  be  Hhe  shepherd  and  stone  of  Israel,' 
raised  Esther  to  the  dignity  of  a  great  queen,  that  she  might 
be  the  protector  of  the  race  of  Jacob  in  a  time  of  extreme 
danger. 

Whilst  we  regret  the  unmerited  fate  of  Yashti,  who  was 
degraded  for  a  pardonable  offense;  whilst  we  deplore  the  effem- 
inacy of  a  great  king,  who  Avas  a  slave  to  the  love  of  pleasure, 
and  the  unhappy  fate  of  those  ladies  who  were  sacrificed  to  his 
vanity  or  lust ;  let  us  adore  that  all  over-ruling  providence, 
which  managed  the  vices  and  weaknesses  of  the  king  of  Persia 
in  a  subserviency  to  the  interests  of  his  despised  people,  and 
to  the  glory  of  that  wisdom  by  which  he  brings  safety  and  fe- 
licity to  his  chosen,  out  of  those  events  which  appeared  to  have 
no  relation  to  them.  'Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  who  is  wonderful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  work- 
ing.' 

Verse  18. — Then  the  king  made  a  great  feast  unto  aUhisj^rinccs 
and  his  servants,  even  Esther^ s  feast;  and  he  made  a  release  to 
the  provinces,  and  gave  gifts,  according  to  the  state  of  the  king. 


188  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IV. 

The  king  appears  to  have  taken  much  delight  in  feasts.  It 
was  well  that  he  did  not  take  delight  in  something  worse.  A 
feast  on  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the  accomplished  queen 
whom  he  espoused,  cannot  expose  him  to  blame.  We  find 
marriage-feasts  common  among  patriarchs  and  judges  in  Israel. 
Jesus  himself,  and  his  disciples,  attended  a  marriage-feast, 
where  he  performed  the  beginning  of  his  public  miracles.  ^  A 
feast  is  made  for  laughter;'  and  we  may  partake  of  it  without 
sin,  if  we  are  carefui  to  glorify  God  in  eating  and  drinking, 
and  in  whatever  we  do. 

The  king,  at  the  same  time,  gave  a  release  to  the  provinces 
from  their  usual  imposts,  and  bestowed  gifts,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  king.  His  heart  overflowed  with  joy  at  the  acqui- 
sition of  a  queen  so  beautiful,  and  possessed  of  so  many  virtues. 
He  wished  his  subjects  to  rejoice  with  him ;  and  endeavoured, 
by  his  liberality  on  Esther's  account,  to  procure  for  her  the 
good-will  and  the  blessing  of  his  people.  That  man  must  be 
selfish  to  an  uncommon  degree,  who  can  confine  his  joys  to 
himself.  The  man  of  a  truly  generous  spirit  would  have  all 
around  him,  if  possible,  as  happy  as  himself. 

Verse  19. — And  when  the  virgins  were  gathered  together  the 
second  time,  then  Mordecai  sat  in  the  hinges  gate. 
The  virgins  that  had  been  collected  for  the  king,  were  first 
put  under  the  care  of  Hegai.  They  were  now  collected  to- 
gether, as  secondary  wives,  under  the  care  of  Shaashgaz,  to  be 
left  in  perpetual  solitude,  or  to  be  sent  for  by  the  king  to  share 
his  bed,  as  his  humour  should  direct  him.  Such  was  their 
unhappy  condition;  and  such  the  condition  of  Esther  would 
have  been,  if  God  had  not  given  her  favour  in  the  sight  of  her 
lord.  Esther  was,  doubtless,  penetrated  with  gratitude  to  God, 
when  she  considered  the  condition  of  her  rivals,  who  were 
buried  alive  by  a  perpetual  seclusion  from  the  pleasures  of 
society.  And  have  not  the  poorest  of  European  women  reason 
to  thank  the  great  Disposer  of  human  affairs,  when  they  con- 
sider the  slavery  imposed  upon  women  in  the  East?  How 
precious  are  those  laws  of  Christ,  ^Let  every  woman  have  her 
own  husband — Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ 
loved  the  church' !     What  happiness  has  been  diffused  by  them 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  189 

over  all  those  places  of  the  earth,  where  they  have  been  re- 
ceived as  the  coiumaudinents  of  the  Lord ! 

Mordecai  sat  in  the  king's  gate  at  the  time  when  Esther  was 
made  queen,  and  the  other  ladies  of  the  king  were  collected 
into  the  house  of  the  concubines.  What  was  Mordecai's  office  at 
the  king's  gate,  we  cannot  precisely  say.  It  was  probably  not 
so  mean  as  that  of  a  common  porter,  nor  so  high  as  Mordecai 
might  have  expected,  if  it  had  been  known  that  he  was  the 
queen's  adoptive  father.  But  his  eyes  were  not  lofty,  nor  his 
heart  haughty,  nor  did  he  seek  a  great  place  for  himself  in  the 
palace.  Pie  had  even  taken  measures  to  prevent  the  knowledge 
of  his  relation  to  the  queen. 

Verse  20. — Esther  had  not  yet  showed  her  kindred,  nor  her 
people  J  as  Ilordecai  had  charged  her;  for  Esther  did  the  com- 
mandment of  Mordecai y  like  as  when  she  was  brought  up  with  him. 

Esther  was  far  from  being  ashamed  of  her  people  or  of  her 
kindred.  She  rejoiced  more  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  Abi- 
hail,  than  in  her  royal  dignity.  She  was  far  from  being  un- 
willing, when  occasion  should  require  it,  to  solicit  needful 
favours  for  her  people  and  her  kindred,  whose  welfare,  we  will 
afterwards  find,  was  preferred  by  her  to  her  life.  But  she  did 
not  choose  to  be  needlessly  troublesome  to  the  king  with  her 
petitions;  and,  at  the  same  time,  she  was  under  restraints  by 
the  commandment  of  Mordecai,  who  had  charged  her  to  say 
nothing  about  her  kindred  or  her  people. 

But  did  not  Esther  forget  her  rank,  when  she  would  obey 
Mordecai  as  she  had  done  when  she  was  a  child?  Shall  the 
wife  of  the  great  king  be  held  under  pupilage  upon  her  throne? 
Esther  is  more  truly  great  in  the  obedience  she  still  yielded 
to  Mordecai,  than  in  the  honours  conferred  on  her  by  Aha- 
suerus.  Her  gratitude,  her  humility,  her  filial  obedience,  en- 
noble her  more  than  a  hundred  diadems  of  the  brightest  gold 
could  have  done. 

The  woman,  as  well  as  the  man,  that  enters  into  the  state 
of  marriage,  must  leave  father  and  mother.  But  think  not 
that  your  change  of  life  sets  you  free  from  the  obligations  of 
honouring  your  parents,  or  even  of  obeying  them,  as  far  as 
obedience  to  them  is  compatible  with  your  new  duties.     You 


190  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [DISC.  IV. 

must  honour  your  father  as  long  as  he  lives;  and  you  must  not 
despise  your  mother  when  she  is  old,  and  stands  in  more  need 
than  ever  of  the  comforts  which  she  will  receive  from  your 
attentions. 

You  that  have  been  left  orphans,  and  have  found  parents 
in  other  friends,  are  bound,  whether  in  the  single  or  married 
state,  to  testify  your  respect  and  gratitude  to  them  as  if  you 
were  their  children.  In  some  respects  you  are  more  indebted 
to  them  than  children  to  their  parents.  '  They  took  you  under 
their  protection  when  you  were  in  a  destitute  condition,  and 
when  they  were  not  constrained  by  such  powerful  obligations 
as  natural  parents. 

Let  no  change  in  your  condition  be  a  pretext  for  forgetting 
the  duties  you  owe  either  to  parents,  or  to  friends  who  have 
treated  you  with  the  tenderness  of  parents.  Esther,  when  she 
was  a  queen,  paid  the  same  deference  to  Mordecai,  as  when 
she  was  a  dependant  upon  his  bounty.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  more  highly  raised  above  his  mother  from  the  very  be- 
ginning of  his  mortal  life,  for  he  was  the  Son  of  God ;  and  yet 
he  was  subject  to  his  parents  whilst  he  lived  with  them  ;  and 
when  he  was  upon  the  cross,  provided  another  son  for  his  mother 
to  comfort  her,  when  he  should  leave  the  world. 

Verse  21. — In  those  days,  (loMle  Mordecai  sat  in  the  hinges 
gcdc,)  two  of  the  hinges  chamberlains,  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  of  those 
vhich  kept  the  door,  were  wroth,  and  sought  to  lay  hand  on  the 
hing  Ahasuerus. 

It  was  not  the  design  of  the  writer  of  this  book  to  give  us 
the  history  of  king  Ahasuerus,  or  of  his  wicked  servants,  but 
to  give  us  the  history  of  a  wonderful  salvation  wrought  for 
God's  scattered  people.  But  events  of  many  different  kinds 
are  combined,  and  co-operate  under  divine  direction  for  accom- 
j)lishing  his  gracious  purposes  to  his  people.  Who  would  have 
thought  that  the  conspiracy  of  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  fatal  only 
to  themselves,  had  any  relation  to  the  salvation  of  Israel?  But 
if  their  conspiracy  had  not  been  formed,  it  would  not  have 
been  detected ;  and  by  detecting  it,  Mordecai  gained  that  favour 
with  the  king  which  afterwards  proved  fatal  to  the  great  enemy 
of  Mordecai  and  of  Israel. 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  191 

Blgthan  and  Teresh  were  wroth,  and  sought  to  lay  hand  on 
the  king  Ahasuerus. — You  may  envy  kings,  and  think  they 
are  more  fortunate  than  other  people,  because  they  were  born 
to  be  great.  But  greatness  ensures  neither  safety  nor  happi- 
ness. If  kings  were  immortal,  when  other  men  must  descend 
to  the  dust,  or  if  their  loyalty  would  protract  their  lives  to  the 
age  of  Methuselah,  there  would  be  some  plausible  pretense  for 
looking  up  to  them  with  an  envious  eye.  But  they  die  like 
men,  although  they  are  honoured  with  the  title  of  gods.  They 
are  even  exposed  to  dangers  from  which  men  of  lower  ranks 
are  exempted.  The  father  of  Artaxerxes  was  treacherously 
destroyed  by  one  of  his  own  servants.  One  of  his  descendants 
and  successors  was  killed  by  a  favourite  eunuch,  and  had  his 
flesh  given  to  the  rats.  This  prince  himself,  one  of  the  best 
that  swayed  the  Persian  sceptre,  had  his  life  sought  by  the 
treachery  of  those  who  did  eat  of  his  bread,  and  who  had  doubt- 
less given  him  many  assurances  of  their  attachment  to  his 
person  and  government.  The  life  of  European  princes,  in  our 
time,  seems  to  be  less  precarious  than  that  of  many  ancient 
])rinces,  because  their  governments  are  so  constituted  as  to  ob- 
viate the  hopes  of  ambition  in  their  subjects.  Yet,  in  our  own 
days,  we  have  seen  two  sovereigns  cut  off  by  the  hand  of  vio- 
lence, and  the  life  of  our  own  sovereign  (whom  may  God  long 
preserve!)  exposed  to  danger  from  the  hands  of  madmen.* 

Bigthan  and  Teresh  were  wroth  with  king  Ahasuerus;  and 
therefore  they  sought  to  lay  hands  on  him.     Kings  are  often 

*  The  recent  foul  assassination  of  his  Excellency  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  who  was  so  universally  r:^- 
spected  and  beloved  for  his  integrity  and  amiable  qualities  as  a  man,  and 
for  his  eminently  patriotic  administration  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
great  American  Republic  during  the  late  deplorable  rebellion,  adds  fresh 
point  and  emphasis  to  our  author's  observations,  in  regard  to  the  peculiar 
dangers  that  beset  supreme  rulers  and  princes.  Christians  should,  from 
these  considerations,  be  impressed  with  tlie  duty  and  obligation  which 
specially  rest  on  them  as  Christian  citizens,  to  oiler  up  prayers  to  God  for 
the  preservation  of  the  life  of  their  chief  Magistrate.  The  Scripture  prayer 
— 'God  save  the  King!'  or,  God  save  the  President!  should  aa  earnestly 
and  constantly  go  up  to  heaven  from  millilms  of  Christian  hearts,  as  the 
prayer — 'Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread! — Ed. 


192  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  IV. 

ill  informed  of  the  real  disposition  of  their  subjects  towards 
them.  Flatterers  assure  them,  that  whatever  they  do  pleases 
all  the  people;  and  there  are  few,  or  none,  that  choose  to  wound 
their  ears  with  painful  truth.  But  none  are  more  exposed  to 
ill-nature  and  dislike.  It  was  the  saying  of  Louis  XIY.  of 
France,  that  when  he  bestowed  any  office,  he  made  ninty-nine 
men  discontented,  and  one  unthankful  (meaning  the  person 
to  whom  he  gave  the  office).  What  were  the  grounds  of  the 
wrath  of  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  we  cannot  tell.  But  in  the 
management  of  the  affiiirs  of  a  large  empire,  there  must  be  many 
things  daily  done  which  will  awaken  the  wrath  of  selfish  and 
ambitious  men.  What  man  was  ever  so  fortunate  as  to  dis- 
pense a  thousand  favours,  without  giving  disgust  to  some  of 
those  who  did  not  share  in  them  ?  and  perhaps  not  less  to  those 
who  have  shared  in  them ;  for  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  proud 
man  believe,  that  he  is  respected  according  to  his  merits. 

Mortify  all  your  corrupt  passions,  and  never  let  them  be 
suffered  to  regulate  your  conduct.  How  often  has  the  passion 
of  anger  involved  men  in  blood  and  treason!  Most  justly 
does  our  Lord  explain  the  sixth  commandment  to  include  the 
prohibition  of  anger. 

Beware  of  speaking  a  word,  or  entertaining  a  thought,  in- 
consistent with  that  high  respect  w^hich  is  due  to  princes ;  ^  for 
a  bird  of  the  air  shall  carry  the  voice,  and  that  which  hath 
wings  will  tell  the  matter.'  Bigthan  and  Teresh  afford  but 
one  of  many  thousands  of  instances  in  which  the  secret  thoughts 
and  speeches  of  traitors  have  been  unexpectedly  brought  to 
light,  by  the  providence  of  him  who  ^giveth  salvation  unto 
kings.' 

Verse  22. — And  the  thing  ivas  known  to  Mordecai,  who  told 
it  unto  Esther  the  queen,  and  Esther  certified  the  king  thereof y  in 
Mordecai^s  name. 

We  are  not  told  how  the  thing  came  to  the  knowledge  of 
Mordecai.  But  we  know  that,  whatever  was  the  means,  God 
was  the  author  of  the  discovery.  It  was  by  his  good  provi- 
dence that  the  life  of  the  king  was  preserved,  that  he  might 
be  useful  to  the  Israel  o^od.  It  was  by  his  good  providence 
that  Mordecai  the  Jew  was  the  discoverer  of  the  treason,  that 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  193 

the  king's  favour  might  be  conciliated  to  Mordccai,  and  to 
Esther,  and  to  their  people.  May  we  not  add,  that  the  wicked 
designs  of  these  traitors,  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  were  permitted 
by  the  providence  of  God,  that  the  detection  of  them  miglit 
contribute  to  the  advancement  of  his  gracious  purposes?  lie 
permits  no  more  wickedness  to  take  place,  than  he  knows  how 
to  over-rule  for  good.  ^  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  him, 
and  the  remainder  of  his  wrath  shall  he  restrain.' 

As  soon  as  Mordecai  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  plot 
formed  against  the  king,  he  took  the  best  measures  to  prevent 
its  execution,  by  revealing  it  to  the  queen,  and  by  her  to  the 
king.  It  we  forbear  to  deliver  those  that  are  drawn  unto 
death,  and  those  who  are  ready  to  be  slain,  we  are  partners  in 
the  guilt  of  their  blood.  We  are  bound  especially  to  con- 
tribute our  best  endeavours,  as  we  have  opportunity,  to  pre- 
serve the  lives  of  princes,  those  ministers  of  God  for  good, 
under  whose  protection  we  enjoy  life  and  its  comforts.  Mor- 
decai was  under  special  obligations,  as  a  servant  of  his  king, 
who  sat  at  his  gate,  to  be  careful  of  his  life.  But  all  the  sub- 
jects of  a  king  are  under  powerful  obligations  to  seek  and  to 
promote,  by  all  proper  means,  his  life  and  welfare.  Abishai 
procured  to  himself  great  honour,  and  yet  did  no  more  than 
his  duty,  when  he  put  his  life  into  his  hand,  and  encountered 
a  mighty  giant,  to  save  the  life  of  David. 

Esther  certified  the  matter  to  the  king  in  Mordecai's  name. 
Here  she  appears  to  have  acted  without  commandment  from 
him.  It  was  sufficient  for  Mordecai  to  do  his  duty,  and  to 
save  the  king's  life,  without  seeking  either  praise  or  reward 
for  a  service  which  he  could  not  neglect  without  baseness  and 
treachery.  But  Esther,  on  the  other  side,  wished  not  for  those 
rewards  and  honours  from  the  king  which  more  justly  per- 
tained to  another.  She  had  now  an  opportunity  of  recom- 
mending to  the  king's  favour  her  affectionate  friend  and  father, 
and  she  did  not  suffer  it  to  pass  neglected.  Never  let  us  assume 
to  ourselves  the  praises  that  belong  more  justly  to  another;  but 
let  us  be  ever  ready  to  procure  for  our  friends  and  brethren 
those  honours  and  rewards  to  which  they  are  entitled. 

Verse  2S.— And  when  inquisition  was  made  of  tlie  matter,  it 
13 


194  DISCOUKSES   ON   THE  [DISC.  IV. 

teas  found  out;  therefore  they  were  both  hanged  on  a  tree:  and  it 
icas  icritten  in  the  booh  of  the  chronicles  before  the  king. 

The  kino-  Ahasuerus  would  not  by  his  absolute  authority 
deliver  up  to  punishment  even  men  who  had  conspired  against 
his  life,  till  he  had  good  proofs  of  their  guilt.  Happy  would  it 
liave  been  for  him  and  for  his  subjects,  if  he  had  never  departed 
from  this  principle,  that  proof  should  go  before  punishment. 
Grievous  and  dangerous  as  the  crime  of  idolatry  among  God's 
people  was,  he  would  not  have  it  punished  till  proper  inqui- 
sition was  made  about  the  fact;  Deut.  xiii.  What  safety  can 
any  man  enjoy,  if  accusation  is  to  hold  the  place  of  evidence? 

Both  traitors  were  hanged.  Their  punishment  was  just  and 
necessary,  and  more  moderate  than  punishments  often  were 
among  the  Persians.  Ahasuerus  would  not  suffer  his  enemies 
to  escape  vengeance,  although  he  was  a  humane  prince.  And 
think  not,  you  who  are  enemies  and  traitors  to  the  Prince  of 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  that  you  shall  escape  the  vengeance 
merited  by  your  wickedness?  'Those  mine  enemies,^  he  will 
say,  '  who  would  not  have  me  to  reign  over  them,  bring  forth 
and  slay  before  my  face.'  Earthly  princes  are  terrible  in  their 
wrath  against  the  enemies  of  their  crown  or  life;  but  all  that 
they  can  do  is  only  to  kill  the  body.  The  King  of  heaven  has 
power  to  kill  both  soul  and  body,  and  to  cast  both  into  hell- 
fire. 

And  it  was  written  in  the  booh  of  the  chronicles  before  the 
king. — It  was  a  wise  institution  in  Persia,,  that  secretaries 
should  commit  to  registers  every  remarkable  action  of  the  king, 
and  every  event  of  his  reign.  It  was  a  great  encouragement 
to  well  doing,  and  a  powerful  discouragement  from  evil  doing, 
to  know  that  what  was  done  would  not  be  forgotten.  Suppose 
you  knew  that  a  register  was  kept  by  some  invisible  scribe  of 
all  that  you  think,  or  speak,  or  act,  what  manner  of  persons 
would  you  endeavour  to  be  in  the  exercise  of  every  virtue? 
Know,  then,  that  none  of  your  actions  ever  can  be  forgotten; 
that  even  your  most  secret  thoughts  are  written  in  durable 
registers.  The  Lord  hearkens  and  hears  all  that  is  spoken  by 
us.  He  observes  all  that  we  think  or  do,  and  a  book  of  re- 
membrance is  written  before  him,  which  will  one  day  be  opened, 


CHAP.  II.  12-23.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  ]95 

to  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well,  and  to  the  confusion  of  the 
wicked. 

Mordecai  was  not  presently  rewarded  by  the  king  for  the 
eminent  service  which  he  had  done  him.  No  matter.  It  was 
marked  down  in  the  king's  register.  He  may  one  day  find, 
that  it  was  a  good  thing  patiently  to  wait  the  king's  time.  At 
present  he  wanted  nothing.  The  time  may  come  when  the 
king's  flvour  may  be  more  valued  by  him  than  life  itself  If 
he  had  never  been  rewarded  by  the  king,  the  testimony  of  liis 
conscience,  and  the  assurance  of  divine  approbation,  were  more 
to  him  than  all  that  the  king  could  bestow. 

It  was  possible  that  the  king  of  Persia  might  forget  the  ser- 
vices done  to  him,  though  they  were  recorded  in  his  books. 
But  let  none  of  those  who  perform  any  services,  in  the  fear  of 
God,  to  God  or  to  man,  to  kings  or  to  beggars,  be  afraid  of 
losing  their  reward.  ^God  will  not  be  unrighteous  to  forget 
any  works  or  labours  of  love^  done  for  the  name  of  his  dear 
Son.  'A  cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple  shall  in  no  wise 
lose  its  reward ;  and  whatever  good  thing  any  man  does,  the 
same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free.' 


]  96  DISCOUESES   ON   THE  [DISC.  V. 


DISCOURSE  V. 


THE  ELEVATION  OF  HAMAN — HIS  PRIDE,  AND  RESOLUTION  TO  RE- 
VENGE FANCIED  INDIGNITIES,  RECEIVED  FROM  MORDECAI,  UPON 
THE  WHOLE  NATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

CHAPTER  III.   1-6. 

Verse  1. — After  these  things  did  king  Ahasuerus  promote  Ha- 
inan, the  son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  and  advanced  him, 
o.nd  set  his  seat  above  all  the  princes  that  were  with  him. 

A  THOUSAND  years  before  this  time,  the  family  of  Agag  was 
renowned  in  the  world.  ^His  king/  said  Balaam  concerning 
Israel,  ^ shall  be  higher  than  Agag.'  The  generous  spirit  of 
Ahasuerus  might  probably  feel  sentiments  of  compassion  for 
the  poor  representative  of  a  family  once  so  glorious,  and  en- 
deavour by  his  favour  to  make  him  some  compensation  for  the 
fallen  grandeur  of  his  house  and  people;  but  why  did  God 
suffer  a  man  to  be  raised  high  above  the  princes  of  Persia, 
who  was  to  make  such  a  bad  use  of  his  grandeur,  as  we  wdll 
soon  find  Haman  did?  ^Promotion  cometh  not  from  the  east, 
nor  from  the  west,  nor  from  the  south.  But  God  is  the  judge. 
He  putteth  down  one,  and  setteth  up  another.'  Why,  then, 
is  the  basest  and  proudest  of  men  set  up  so  high,  that  all  the 
l)rinces  of  Persia  must  bow  to  him?  It  is  needless  to  answer 
the  question  at  present.  We  will  find  it  sufficiently  answered 
ill  tiie  course  of  this  history;  which  will  teach  us,  that  Svhen 
the  wicked  spring  up  as  the  grass,  and  when  all  the  workers 
of  iniquity  do  flourish,  it  is  that  they  shall  be  destroyed  for 
ever;  because  thou,  Lord,  art  most  high  for  evermore;'  Psalm 
xcii.  7,  8. 

Verse  2. — And  all  the  hinges  servants,  that  were  in  the  king^s 


CHAP.  III.  1-6.]  BOOK   OP   ESTHER.  197 

gate,  bowed,  and  reverenced  Haman;  for  the  king  had  so  com' 
manded  concerning  him:  bid  Mordecai  bowed  not,  nor  did  him 
reverence. 

Mauy  of  the  king's  ministers  had  their  stations  in  the  kinjr's 
gate,  where,  it  is  probable,  convenient  apartments  were  pro- 
vided for  them;  and  all  of  them  honoured  him  wliom  the 
king  delighted  to  honour.  ^  Where  tlie  word  of  a  king  is, 
there  is  power.'  All  will  bow  to  the  man  on  whom  the  king 
is  pleased  to  smile.  If  the  favourites  of  earthly  kings  are  so 
highly  respected,  ought  we  not  to  honour  those  who  are  the 
favourites  of  Heaven?  The  mind  of  Christ  is  not  in  us,  if 
we  do  not  Mionour  them  that  fear  the  Lord.' 

Why  did  the  king  command  his  servants  to  pay  such  dis- 
tinguished honours  to  Haman?  Did  he  not  believe  that  his 
own  known  affection  to  Haman,  and  the  high  honours  con- 
ferred upon  him,  were  abundantly  sufficient  to  ensure  to  him 
all  that  honour  to  which  the  highest  subject  could  be  entitled? 
From  this  command  it  appears  probable  that  the  king  desired 
greater  honour  to  be  given  to  Haman,  than  was  usually  given 
even  to  kings'  favourites ;  and  this  was  probably  the  reason 
why  Mordecai  refused  to  perform  that  homage  to  Haman, 
which  he  expected  from  the  royal  command  in  his  favour. 
Many  authors  attest,  that  honours  of  a  religious  kind  used  to 
be  given  to  the  kings  of  Persia,  by  those  who  came  into  their 
presence;  and  some  share  of  the  like  honour  was,  it  is  likely, 
required  by  the  king  for  his  favourite  and  friend. 

This,  at  least,  we  may  safely  say,  that  Mordecai  did  not  de- 
cline the  required  homage  to  Haman,  either  from  motives  of 
envy,  or  from  narrow  scruples  of  conscience  in  a  matter  where 
conscience  was  not  concerned.  He  well  knew  that  Abraham 
made  no  scruple  of  bowing  himself  to  the  ground  before  stran- 
gers who  came  to  his  tent;  that  Joseph  accepted  of  the  hom- 
age of  the  Egyptians,  which  (if  our  translation  of  Gen.  xli.  43, 
is  just)  amounted  to  no  less  than  bowing  the  knee  before  him; 
and  that  when  the  people  of  Israel  worshipped  the  Lord  and 
king  David,  they  did  nothing  inconsistent  with  their  reli- 
gion. It  was  only  civil  homage  that  they  performed  to  their 
fellow  men.     But,  in  all  appearance,  something  more  was  un- 


198  DISCOURSES   ON  THE  [dISC.  V. 

derstood  to  be  signified  by  that  homage  which  was  required 
for  Hainan ;  and  Mordecai  would  not  in  the  least  instance  vio- 
late his  duty,  to  please  the  greatest  of  men. 

Verse  3. — Then  the  hinges  servants  which  were  in  the  hinges  gate 
said  unto  3Iordecaiy  Why  transgressest  thou  the  hinges  command- 
ment f 

The  kino-'s  servants  thought  his  commands  entitled  to  im- 
plicit obedience.  AVhatever  he  said  was  a  law  to  them.  He 
was  an  image  of  God  upon  earth;  and  obedience  of  an  unre- 
served kind  seemed  to  them  a  part  of  their  duty.  Christians 
have  not  so  learned  to  regulate  their  practice.  There  is  one 
King  whose  commands  must  ever  be  a  law  to  us;  For  Svhy 
call  we  Christ,  Lord,  Lord,  if  we  do  not  the  things  which  he 
says?'  Luke  vi.  46.  The  commands  of  earthly  princes  are  to 
be  done  likewise,  out  of  conscience  towards  God,  when  they 
do  not  oppose  his  commandments.  But  when  any  thing  is 
enjoined  us  contrary  to  the  honour  of  God,  and  to  the  duty 
which  we  owe  to  Him,  we  must  obey  God,  and  not  man;  *for 
whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  obey  God  or  man,' 
it  is  not  difficult  to  decide. 

Why  transgressest  thou  the  king's  commandment? — Mordecai 
professed,  and  practised  on  former  occasions,  strict  loyalty. 
He  had  recently  saved  the  king's  life,  and  might  hope  for  a 
good  reward,  if  he  continued  to  satisfy  the  king  by  his  obe- 
dience. Why,  then,  does  he  now  act  in  express  opposition  to 
his  declared  will?  Did  he  not  know  that  kings  must  be  obeyed, 
and  will  not  suffer  disobedience  to  their  orders  to  pass  un- 
j)unislied? 

Confessors  of  the  truth,  who  exposed  themselves  to  reproach 
and  punishment  for  their  fidelity  to  God,  have  been  the  won- 
der of  tlie  world  in  every  age;  especially  when  their  opposition 
to  the  public  laws  seemed  to  turn  upon  small  matters.  The 
heathens  who  saw  the  Christians  expose  themselves  to  a  cruel 
death,  because  they  would  not  throw  a  few  grains  of  incense 
into  tiie  fire,  nor  worship  the  genius  of  Csesar,  believed  that 
they  had  lost  their  reason.  The  like  notions  were  formed  con- 
cerning Protestant  and  Presbyterian  martyrs  by  their  enemies. 
But  surely  true  wisdom  will  direct  us  to  choose  the  greatest 


CHAP.  III.  1-6.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  199 

sufferings,  rather  than  the  least  sin.  God  can  easily  recom- 
pense our  worst  sull'erings  in  his  cause;  but  who  can  compen- 
sate the  damao'c  of  the   least  sin?     Remember  the  words  of 

o 

Jesus, — '  Whosoever  shall  break  one  of  the  least  of  these  com- 
mandments, or  shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven';  Matt.  v.  19. 

Verse  4. — Now  it  came  to  pass,  ivhen  they  spahe  daily  unto 
him,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  that  they  told  Ilaman,  to 
see  whether  3Ior decays  matters  would  stand:  for  he  had  told  them 
taht  he  was  a  Jew. 

They  spahe  daily  unto  him, — This  they  understood  to  be  the 
office  of  friends;  for  Mordecai,  they  thought,  was  risking  his 
life  for  a  trifling  scruple  about  his  religion.  They  did  not 
think  it  the  part  of  a  man  of  sense  to  throw  away  his  life  for 
the  punctilios  of  religion  ;  and  used  all  their  eloquence  to  per- 
suade him  to  change  his  conduct.  But  their  friendship  to  him 
was  of  the  same  kind  with  Eve's  friendship  to  Adam,  when 
she  persuaded  him  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit ;  or  with  Delilah's 
friendship  to  Samson,  when  she  insisted  upon  a  proof  of  his 
love  that  was  to  be  fatal  to  his  own  life.  Those  are  our  true 
friends  who  warn  us  against  declining  the  cross  of  Christ  by 
sinful  compliances.  Those  are  our  worst  enemies,  who  per- 
suade us  to  prefer  our  life  and  comfort  to  our  duty.  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  taught  us  this  lesson  when  he  said  to  Peter,  'Get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan!'  Peter's  offense  was,  that  he  would 
not  have  his  Lord  to  suffer.  This  he  accounted  an  expression 
of  his  friendship ;  but  Christ  esteemed  it  an  expression  of  en- 
mity worthy  of  Satan,  the  great  enemy  of  God  and  men. 

When  they  spake  to  him  day  by  day,  Mordecai  was  still  the 
same  man.  He  laid  it  down  as  a  principle,  that  he  would  do 
his  duty,  be  the  consequence  what  it  would ;  and  that  no  m- 
treaties,  no  persuasions,  no  dangers,  should  induce  hini  to 
violate  the  commands,  or  to  sacriiice  the  honour,  of  his  God.^ 
To  what  purpose  do  we  enter  into  the  way  of  righteousness,  if 
we  do  not  persevere  in  it?  The  importunities  of  those  who 
would  turn  us  aside  from  the  path  gf  duty,  are  to  be  considered 
as  temptations  of  Satan  by  his  emissaries;  and  shall  they  be 
set  in  opposition  to  the  commands  of  God,  or  Lo  the  dictates 


200  DISCOURSES  ox  THE  [dISC.  V. 

of  our  own  consciences?  Would  we  listen  to  any  man,  if  he 
persuaded  us  to  inflict  deadly  wounds  upon  our  bodies?  But 
our  bodies  are  less  precious  than  our  souls,  to  which  every 
wilful  sin  gives  a  deadly  stab.     At  length 

They  told  Haman,  to  see  whether  Mordecai^s  matters  v)ouId 
stand,  and  whether  he  would  not  at  last  be  constrained  to  yield 
to  their  advices.  They  appeared  to  be  his  friends  when  they 
exhorted  him  to  obey  the  king's  commandment;  but  now  they 
discover  themselves  to  be  his  enemies,  when  they  expose  him 
to  the  vengeance  of  the  haughty  favourite.  There  are  too  many 
whose  friendship  is  but  little  removed  from  enmity.  They  will 
show  you  great  kindness,  if  you  suffer  them  to  be  your  masters : 
but  if  you  think  it  necessary  to  judge  for  yourselves  what  you 
are  to  do,  they  reckon  themselves  affronted.  If  you  follow 
their  example,  they  will  praise  your  understanding ;  if  you  act 
in  opposition  to  it,  they  consider  your  conduct  as  a  libel  on 
their  own,  and  care  not  what  mischiefs  may  be  the  consequence. 

For  he  had  told  them  that  he  was  a  Jew. — And  it  seems  they 
desired  to  see  whether  the  Jews  would  be  allowed  to  observe, 
with  impunity,  their  singular  customs. 

It  was  high  time  for  the  Jews  to  be  strict  in  observins^  the 
laws  of  their  God ;  those  laws,  especially,  which  prohibited 
the  alienation  of  religious  worship  from  their  own  God.  They 
had  already  smarted  severely  for  idolatry,  and  now  it  was 
necessary  for  them,  unless  they  wished  for  utter  extermination, 
to  stand  at  the  utmost  distance  from  this  fatal  crime.  We 
find  in  the  Grecian  history,  that  the  Jews  were  not  the  only 
people  who  refused  to  give  that  homage  which  was  required 
by  the  kings  of  Persia.  The  Athenians  put  Timagoras,  one 
of  their  citizens,  to  death,  for  saluting  the  king  of  Persia  in 
the  Persian  mode;  and  some  of  the  soldiers  of  Alexander  the 
Great  rebelled  against  him,  when  he  demanded  from  them  the 
honours  usually  given  to  the  kings  of  Persia.  But  these 
blind  heathens  acted  rather  upon  the  principle  of  honour,  than 
of  religion.  They  might  have  performed  religious  homage  to 
the  Persian  monarchs  as  reasonably  and  innocently  as  to  the 
ordinary  objects  of  their  worsliip.  But  the  Jews  were  taught 
of  God  to   worship  himself  alone.     Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 


CHAP.  III.  1-6.]  BOOK   OP   ESTHER.  201 

Abednego,  chose  to  give  their  bodies  to  the  burning  fire,  rather 
than  worship  any  other  god  than  their  own  God:  and  Mor- 
decai  chose  to  run  every  hazard,  rather  than  prostitute  to  a 
creature  those  honours  which  belonged  exclusively  to  God  his 
Maker. 

Mordecai  would  not  comply  with  the  solicitations  of  the 
king's  ministers:  but  he  gave  them  a  good  reason  why  he 
would  not  do  it,  when  Mie  told  them  that  he  was  a  Jew;'  and 
that  the  laws  of  his  fathers  prohibited  his  compliance  with 
their  wishes.  He  forbade  Esther  to  tell  her  people  or  her 
kindred:  but,  when  occasion  required,  he  was  not  ashamed  to 
tell  his  own  people,  and  kindred,  and  religion.  Here  he 
followed  the  example  of  David,  *  who  would  speak  of  God's 
testimonies  before  kings,  and  would  not  be  ashamed.'  Why 
should  any  fearer  of  God,  any  follower  of  Jesus,  be  ashamed 
openly  to  avow  his  profession  before  the  greatest  of  men? 
Nothing  can  be  more  shameful,  than  to  be  ashamed  of  our 
Creator  and  Redeemer.  The  followers  of  the  Lamb  'have 
their  Father's  name  written  on  their  forehead.' 

Yerse  5. — And  when  Haman  saw  that  Mordecai  bowed  not, 
nor  did  him  reverence,  then  toas  Haman  full  of  iiyrath. 

Mordecai  bowed  not,  nor  did  him  reverence. — Was  not  Mor- 
decai too  full  of  scruples?  Might  he  not  have  bent  his  body 
in  civil  homage,  to  whi<}h  Haman  was  entitled  by  his  station? 
He  might  then  have  been  overlooked;  the  difference  between 
his  mode  of  paying  homage,  and  that  of  the  other  servants  of 
the  king,  might  have  been  unobserved,  and  thus  he  might  have 
escaped  the  danger  that  threatened  him. 

Mordecai  would  not,  surely,  have  withheld  civil  liomage 
from  the  king's  favourite,  although  he  was  of  the  race  of  Agag, 
if  he  could  have  performed  it  without  being  supposed  to  give 
to  him  that  religious  respect  which  was  paid  to  him  by  others. 
But  he  would  have  preferred  peace  to  truth,  and  his  own  life 
to  a  good  conscience,  if  he  had  rendered  to  him  any  kind  of 
homage  that  would  have  been  generally  understood  to  contain 
the  lowest  acts  of  religious  worship.  It  is  a  necessary  duty  to 
'abstain  from  all  appearance  of  evil.'  We  must  give  no  of- 
fence to  any  man,  even  by  doing  those  things  that  are  in  them- 


202  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  V. 

selves  lawful.  But  when,  without  practising  any  acts  of  idola- 
try, we  do  those  things  which  may  lead  weak  brethren  into 
idolatry,  we  sin  against  our  brethren,  and  against  Christ  who 
died  for  them.  It  is  an  excellent  story  that  is  told  of  old 
Eleazar,  2  Mac.  vi,  who  refusing  to  eat  swine's  flesh  at  the 
commandment  of  the  king,  his  pitying,  but  weak  friends,  pro- 
posed to  bring  some  other  kind  of  flesh  to  him,  that  he  might 
eat  it  as  swine's  flesh,  and  thus  escape  the  torments  prepared 
him.  But  the  good  man  would  by  no  means  sully  his  old  age 
with  the  reproach  of  simulation  to  save  his  life;  nor  lay  a 
stumbling-block  before  the  younger  Jews,  by  giving  them  any 
appearance  of  reason  to  think  that  he  had  done  a  thing  so  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  his  fathers.  He  chose  rather  to  bear  the 
cruel  effects  of  the  royal  indignation,  than  to  flinch,  even  in 
appearance,  from  that  good  profession  which  he  had  main- 
tained for  ninety  years ;  and  Mordecai  would  rather  encounter 
all  the  rage  of  a  haughty  favourite,  than  do  any  action  which 
might  prove  a  stumbling-block  to  any  of  his  brethren  of  the 
children  of  Israel. 

Haman  was  full  of  wrath,  when  he  heard  and  saw  that  Morde- 
cai refused  him  that  homage  which  was  given  him  by  every  other 
man,  without  excepting  even  the  highest  of  the  king's  princes. 
How  dreadfully  this  wrath  flamed  in  his  bosom,  we  learn  from 
the  method  which  he  took  to  express  it.  We  may  observe,  at 
present,  what  misery  pride,  by  its  own  nature,  and  its  in- 
separable consequences,  brings  upon  men!  No  proud  man 
ever  received  all  that  respect,  or  was  treated  with  all  that  deli- 
cacy of  regard,  which  he  thought  his  due.  Now  pride,  mor- 
tified by  neglect  or  contempt,  kindles  a  fire  in  the  soul,  which 
burns,  and  torments,  and  destroys.  What  man  can  be  more 
miserable  than  he  who  burns  for  vengeance  upon  the  objects 
of  his  displeasure,  but  torments  himself  in  the  first  place  by  a 
fire  which  he  is  constantly  feeding  within  his  own  bowels? 

A  wise  man  would  have  overlooked  the  supposed  injury,  and 
respected,  or  at  the  worst  pitied,  scruples  tliat  appeared  to  him 
unreasonable.  Haman's  master  would  have  probably  smiled 
at  the  singularity  of  Mordecai's  behaviour.  It  is  said  that 
Darius,  grandfather  to  this  prince,  was  once,  on  a  journey, 


CHAP.  III.  1-6.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  203 

solicited  by  one  of  his  attendants  to  give  him  his  embroidered 
robe,  which  happened  to  be  torn.  The  king,  knowing  that  it 
was  a  capital  crime,  by  the  laws  of  Persia,  for  any  subject  to 
wear  the  king's  robe,  gave  it  to  the  man,  with  a  strict  pro- 
hibition from  wearing  it.  He  no  sooner  received  it,  than  he 
dressed  himself  in  the  gorgeous  robe.  When  the  king's  other 
attendants  were  filled  with  indignation,  the  king  said,  ^Igive 
him  leave,  as  a  woman,  to  wear  the  embroidery  ;  and  as  a  mad- 
man, to  wear  the  robe.'  If  Haman  had  passed  over  the  su])- 
posed  indignity  with  such  a  jest,  he  might  have  saved  himself 
from  much  misery,  and  would  have  lost  none  of  his  honours. 
But  none  are  so  proud  as  men  raised  from  a  dunghill  to  a  seat 
near  the  throne.  Cyrus,  Darius,  and  Artaxerxes,  whom  we 
suppose  to  be  the  king  Ahasuerus  of  this  book,  had  Jews  in 
their  courts,  who  certainly  did  not  give  them  honours  unfit 
for  men  to  receive;  and  yet  those  princes  showed  them  great 
favour.  But  the  upstart  minion  thought  no  punishment  too 
severe  for  a  man  that  would  not  honour  him  as  a  god.  May 
God  preserve  us  all  from  unexpected  heights  of  prosperity ;  or 
give  us  grace  to  bear  such  dangerous  changes  in  our  condition 
as  becometh  saints ! 

Verse  6. — And  he  thought  scorn  to  lay  hands  on  Mordecai 
alone;  for  they  had  showed  him  the  people  of  Mordecai:  where- 
fore Haman  sought  to  destroy  all  the  Jews  that  were  throughout 
the  whole  kingdom  of  Ahasuerus,  even  the  i^oplc  of  Mordecai. 

Pride  thirsts  for  the  blood  of  those  by  whom  it  is  wounded. 
And  this  is  certainly  enough,  and  too  much,  for  its  gratifica- 
tion. When  the  Pharisees  and  priests  were  hurt  by  the  fame 
and  by  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  they  sought  to  destroy  him; 
and  his  own  blood  would  have  been  sufficient,  whilst  he  lived 
among  them,  to  satiate  their  fury.  When  they  sent  a  band  of 
men  with  Judas  to  apprehend  him,  they  gave  them  no  com- 
mission to  apprehend  his  disciples  along  witli  him.  But  the 
wound  given  to  the  pride  of  Haman  was  too  sore  and  deep  to 
be  healed  by  the  blood  of  Mordecai  alone.  The  blood  of  a 
thousand,  the  blood  of  ten  thousand  men,  was  not  sufficient. 
The  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  must  be  sacrificed  to  his  revenge. 
In  some  barbarous  nations,  atrocious  crimes  are  punished,  not 


204  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  V. 

with  the  death  of  the  malefactor  only,  but  with  the  death  of 
every  member  of  his  family,  or  of  all  his  kindred.  The  fury 
of  Haman  is  not  satisfied  with  the  destruction  of  Mordecai, 
and  of  all  his  father's  house;  all  the  Jews  throughout  the 
wide-extended  empire  of  Ahasuerus  were  no  more  than  a  suf- 
ficient sacrifice  to  his  revenge.     They  were 

The  people  of  llordecai. — This  was  his  quarrel  with  them. 
Was  this  a  reason  for  their  destruction?  Let  Mordecai  be  the 
worst  of  men,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  his  countrymen  must 
be  wicked.  If  a  whole  nation  were  to  be  extirpated  when  a 
single  atrocious  criminal  is  to  be  found  amongst  them,  all  the 
nations  of  the  world  must  have  been  lono^  ago  rooted  out  of 
the  land  of  the  living,  and  the  earth  left  one  large  desert  for 
lions,  and  tigers,  and  bears,  and  wolves,  to  prey  upon  the 
weaker  animals.  But  the  wrath  of  man  cannot  hear  the  voice 
of  reason  and  justice.  It  wants  ears;  but  it  has  a  loud  voice, 
crying,  Blood  !  blood!  If  you  desire  to  hold  your  innocence, 
give  no  ear  to  its  clamours.  Make  it  to  appear  that  you  have 
learned  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  ^by  putting  off  the  old  man 
with  his  deeds,  which  is  corrupt,  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts.'  Among  other  lusts,  ^put  away  all  malice  and  envies' 
— ^Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not — Let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon 
your  wrath;  neither  give  place  to  the  devil.'  Your  wrath 
may  })rove  very  troublesome  to  the  persons  against  whom  it 
is  directed;  but  it  will  be  beyond  comparison  more  trouble- 
some to  yourselves.  The  wrath  of  Haman  drew  many  tears 
and  sighs  from  Mordecai:  but  it  drew  down  fearful  vengeance 
upon  Haman  himself,  and  upon  all  his  family.  God  give  us 
all  that  ^  wisdom  which  is  from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then 
peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and 
good  fruits,  without  partiality,  and  without  hypocrisy;'  James 
iii.  17. 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  205 


DISCOURSE  VI. 


HAMAN  OBTAINS  FROM  THE  KING  A   DECREE  FOR  THE  DESTRUCTION 

OF  THE  JEWS. 

CHAPTER  III.  7-1  5. 

Verse  7. — In  the  first  month  (that  is  the  month  Nisan),  in  the 
twelfth  yew  of  king  AhasueruSj  they  cast  Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  be- 
fore Haman,from  day  to  day,  and  from  month  to  month,  to  the 
twelfth  month,  that  is,  the  month  Adar. 

The  meaning  plainly  is,  that  on  the  twelfth  day  of  the  month 
Nisan,  they  cast  lots  with  reference  to  all  the  days  and  months 
of  the  year,  to  know  what  would  be  the  lucky  month  for  the 
business  in  agitation.  The  Vulgate  translation  runs  thus: — 
'  On  what  day,  and  in  what  month,  the  Jews  ought  to  be  slain.' 
And  the  twelfth  month,  w^hich  is  called  Adar,  came  forth. 

It  was  the  reproach  of  some  of  the  Jewish  Kings,  that  they 
observed  times.  But  it  was  common  amongst  the  heathens  to 
make  a  distinction  between  lucky  and  unlucky  days.  By  this 
superstitious  distinction,  they  sometimes  suffered  opportunities 
to  be  lost  which  could  never  be  recalled,  and  thereby  exposed 
themselves  to  great  losses,  or  to  extreme  dangers. 

the  business  which  Haman  had  now  in  contemplation  was 
important,  and  might  prove  dangerous.  He  therefore  endeav- 
ours to  discover  the  will  of  the  gods  by  the  use  of  the  lot,  con- 
cerning the  most  proper  time  for  executing  his  purpose.  But 
there  was  surely  another  point  which  ought  previously  to  have 
been  determined,  whether  he  should  attempt  to  execute  his 
purpose,  or  forbear.  It  might  have  occurred  to  him,  that  pos- 
sibly there  was  no  time  at  all  in  which  it  would  be  safe  to 
undertake  an  enterprise  so  full  of  horror.     But  his  passions 


206  DISCOURSES   ON  THE  [dISC.  YT, 

blinded  him.  The  enterprise  must  be  undertaken.  He  cannot 
enjoy  life  unless  his  enemies  are  destroyed.  The  time  only  is 
reSferred  to  the  lot;  and,  through  the  good  providence  of  God, 
it  directs  him  to  a  very  distant  day,  at  the  end  of  not  less  than 
eleven  months. 

Little  did  Haman  know  that  the  whole  disposing  of  lots  be- 
longed unto  the  God  of  that  people  whom  he  proposed  to  exter- 
minate from  the  earth,  and  that  of  consequence  the  season 
pointed  out  by  the  lot  was  likely  not  to  be  the  best  season  for 
executing  his  purpose,  but  the  most  proper  season  for  prevent- 
ing the  execution  of  it,  and  for  turning  the  meditated  vengeance 
upon  his  own  head.  'The  wicked  is  snared  in  the  work  of 
his  own  hands.^  Whilst  he  crouches  and  humbles  himself, 
and  uses  every  artifice  that  the  poor  may  fall  by  his  strong 
ones,  he  is,  in  effect,  spreading  snares  for  himself. 

Verse  8. — And  Haman  said  unto  king  Ahasuerus,  There  is 
a  certain  people  scattered  abroad,  and  dispersed  among  the  people 
in  all  the  provinces  of  thy  kingdom;  and  their  laws  are  diverse 
from  all  people;  neither  keep  they  the  king^s  laws:  therefore  it  is 
not  for  the  king's  profit  to  suffer  them. 

It  is  surprising  that  it  could  ever  come  into  the  mind  of  any 
man,  to  seek  the  destruction  of  a  whole  nation  for  an  offense 
given  him  by  one  man.  But  it  is  far  more  surprising  that 
Haman  could  ever  have  the  audacity  to  propose  it  to  his  sover- 
eign, and  to  a  sovereign  known  to  be  of  a  humane  disposition. 
He  stood  high  in  the  favour  of  his  prince;  but  did  he  not  risk 
the  total  loss  of  that  favour  by  a  proposal  so  evidently  unjust 
and  inhumane?  Why  did  he  not  dread  the  wrath  of  the  king, 
which  is  'as  messengers  of  death'?  Might  he  not  have  heard 
such  words  as  these,  in  answer  to  his  proposal:  'Audacious 
wretch!  what  hast  thou  seen  in  me  that  thou  shouldst  hope 
to  make  me  the  murderer  of  my  people?  Man  of  blood !  thou 
scruplest  not  to  seek  the  destruction,  at  one  blow,  of  thousands 
of  my  subjects,  upon  a  vague  unsupported  charge  which  thou 
bringest  against  them!  Wilt  thou  not  another  day  follow  the 
example  of  Bigthan  and  Toresh?  Wilt  thou  be  more  afraid 
to  lay  thy  hand  upon  one  man,  though  a  king,  than  upon 
many  thousands  of  my  subjects,  who  have  done  thee  no  wrong?' 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK   OP   ESTHER.  207 

But  Haman  had  his  reasons  to  justify  his  strange  proposal 
to  the  king.  The  people  whose  destruction  he  sought  were  a 
contemptible  people,  scattered  through  every  province  of  the 
king's  dominions.  They  had  laws  peculiar  to  themselves,  and 
they  were  not  observers  of  the  king's  laws. 

They  were  scattered  through  every  province  of  the  king's 
dominions.  He  speaks  as  if  they  had  no  country  which  de- 
served to  be  called  their  own.  This,  however,  was  not  a  fact, 
for  the  nation  of  Israel  was  now  brought  back  to  its  own  land; 
and  although  many  of  them  still  continued  to  dwell  in  foreign 
lands,  were  they  therefore  to  be  marked  out  for  slaughter? 
Was  Ahasuerus  to  make  his  name  infamous  among  all  nations, 
and  to  all  posterity,  by  imitating  the  example  of  the  tyrant 
Busiris,  whose  custom  it  was  to  sacrifice  all  strangers  that  he 
found  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  where  he  reigned?  If  the  Jews 
must  die  because  they  dwell  not  in  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
let  Haman  himself,  and  all  the  remnant  of  Amalek,  perish. 
They  have  been  brought,  by  the  revolutions  of  time,  or  by  the 
providence  of  God,  into  a  condition  still  more  contemptible 
than  that  of  the  Jews. 

And  their  laws  are  diverse  from  all  people. — True.  But  is 
this  a  reason  why  they  should  be  destroyed,  before  it  be  con- 
sidered whether  these  laws  are  better  or  worse  than  the  laws 
of  other  people?  Let  this  be  considered  before  this  people  be 
condemned  for  having  such  laws.  Have  they  laws  to  au- 
thorize murder,  treason,  hatred  of  mankind,  robbery,  or  adul- 
tery ?  Then  let  them  be  compelled  to  abjure  such  laws,  or  be 
rooted  out  of  the  land  of  the  living :  But  if  their  laws  be  found 
to  be  the  best  in  the  world,  let  it  be  acknowledged  that  this 
nation  is  a  wise  and  understanding  people ;  unless  they  are 
found  careless  about  their  own  laws,  and  disposed  rather  to 
observe  other  rules  of  conduct. 

But  this  was  another  charge  against  them,  that  they  were 
too  observant  of  their  own  laws,  and  did  not  regard  the  laws 
of  the  king.  It  is,  indeed,  a  great  crime,  in  most  cases,  to  dis- 
obey the  laws  of  the  country  where  we  dwell,  and  of  the  king 
under  whose  protection  we  live.  Unless  the  king's  authority 
be  respected,  good  order  cannot  be  maintained ;  nor  can  men 


208  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [DISC.  VI. 

be  secured  in  their  life,  property,  and  honours,  where  kings  do 
not  enforce  obedience  to  their  good  laws.  Yet  there  are  cases 
in  which  it  is  a  virtue  to  transgress  the  laws  of  the  greatest 
king.  What  if  the  laws  of  God  are  contrary  to  them?  Kings 
themselves  are  but  subjects  to  the  everlasting  King;  and  as 
subjects  are  bound  to  disobey  their  superior  fellow-subjects 
when  they  require  them  to  do  things  inconsistent  with  the  laws 
of  the  kino",  so  all  subjects  are  bound  to  respect  the  will  of 
God,  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  an  earthly  sovereign.  Noth- 
ing, indeed,  can  be  more  wicked  then  to  violate  good  laws 
under  pretense  of  conscience  towards  God.  But  wise  princes 
themselves  will  respect  those  men  most  amongst  their  sub- 
jects who  are  least  disposed  to  sacrifice  their  highest  duties  to 
complaisance  for  princes.  The  Emperor  Constantius,  father 
to  Constantine  the  Great,  once  commanded  all  his  Christian 
servants  to  offer  sacrifices  to  the  gods  of  Rome.  If  they  re- 
fused to  obey  his  command,  they  were  to  be  dismissed  from 
his  service.  Many  of  them  obeyed ;  others  did  not,  and  ac- 
cordingly were  dismissed.  But  in  a  day  or  two  he  turned  out 
all  who  had  complied  with  his  orders,  and  recalled  those  whom 
he  had  expelled ;  saying,  that  those  would  be  most  faithful  to 
their  prince,  who  were  most  faithful  to  their  God;  and  that 
he  would  not  trust  men  who  were  false  to  their  religion. 

Verse  9. — If  it  please  the  kingj  let  it  be  written  that  they  may 
he  destroyed;  and  I  will  pay  ten  thousand  talents  of  silver  to  the 
hands  of  those  that  have  the  charge  of  the  business,  to  bring  it  into 
the  hinges  treasuries. 

If  it  2:)lease  the  Jcing,  let  it  be  written  that  they  may  be  destroyed, 
— Why?  They  are  a  worthless  people,  'for  they  are  scattered 
over  all  the  king's  dominions,  and  live  according  to  their  own 
singular  laws,  without  observing  the  king's  laws;  and  there- 
fore it  is  not  for  the  king's  profit  to  suffer  them  to  live.'  And 
must  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  be  sacrificed  to  a  vague, 
unproved  accusation?  If  the  Jews  are  a  scattered  people,  that 
is  tiieir  misfortune,  rather  than  their  sin.  If  they  have  sin- 
gular institutions  derived  from  their  fathers,  are  they  to  be 
blamed  for  observing  them,  before  it  is  proved  that  they  are 
wicked,  or  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  other  men's  lives  and 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK    OF   ESTHER.  209 

property?  It  was  commonly  held  among  the  heathens  to  be 
a  virtue,  rather  than  a  vice,  for  men  to  respect  the  laws  of  tholr 
fathers.  If  they  did  not  observe  the  king's  laws,  let  them  be 
punished  for  it,  unless  they  can  prove  that  their  consciences 
required  them  to  act  as  they  did;  but  let  them  be  punished 
according  to  the  nature  of  their  offense.  The  king's  laws  were 
not  the  laws  of  Draco  the  Athenian ;  which  were  said  to  be 
written  in  blood,  because  he  made  every  fault  capital.  He 
thought  that  the  smallest  faults  deserved  death,  and  for  the 
greatest  crime  he  could  find  no  greater  punishment. 

It  is  not  for  the  hinges  profit  to  suffer  such  men  to  live;  and 
therefore  let  them  be  put  to  death.  But  will  it  be  profit  to 
the  king  to  put  them  to  death  ?  Will  he  derive  much  pleasure 
or  advantage  from  the  guilt  of  an  hundred  thousand  murders; 
from  the  execrations  of  all  his  surviving  subjects,  and  of  all 
generations  of  mankind;  from  the  horrors  of  a  self-accusing 
conscience;  and  from  the  prospect  of  the  vengeance  which  the 
Creator  of  mankind  may  be  expected  to  inflict  on  the  destroyers 
of  the  work  of  his  hands? 

But  the  profit  of  which  Haman  chiefly  thought,  was  the 
flourishing  state  of  the  royal  revenue.  This  nation  was  so 
poor,  that  the  revenue  would  not  be  lessened  by  its  destruc- 
tion. If,  however,  the  king  was  under  any  apprehensions  that 
his  revenue  would  suffer  damage,  Haman  proposes  to  make  a 
full  equivalent  by  paying  into  the  king's  treasuries  ten  thou- 
sand talents  of  silver;  which  make  several  millions  of  our 
money.  This  sum  he  probably  intended  to  raise  in  part  out 
of  the  effects  of  the  condemned  nation,  and  to  make  up  what 
was  wanting  from  his  own  private  estate.  His  revenge  was 
so  dear  to  him,  that  he  would  not  only  hazard  the  king's  fa- 
vour by  the  horrid  proposal  of  murdering  a  whole  nation,  but 
expose  himself  to  a  severe  loss  in  his  fortune,  rather  than  suffer 
the  hated  race  to  live.  What  liberal  sacrifices  will  men  make 
to  their  passions !  They  will  give  a  great  part  of  the  substance 
of  their  house  for  the  gratification  of  their  hatred  or  their  lust. 
Why  then  should  we  think  it  an  hard  matter  to  give  a  part  of 
our  substance  to  God?  If  our  desires  are  as  eager  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  virtue  and  purity;  if  we  are  as  earnest  in  our 
14 


210  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dTSC.  VI. 

wishes  to  have  the  wants  of  the  poor  supplied,  and  the  afflic- 
tions of  the  unfortunate  relieved,  as  revengeful  men,  like  Ha- 
man,  are  to  gratify  their  ill-nature;  it  will  give  us  pleasure 
to  honour  the  Lord  with  our  substance,  and  to  minister  to  the 
necessities  of  our  fellow-men. 

Verses  10,  11. — And  the  king  took  his  ring  from  his  hand, 
and  gave  it  unto  Haman  the  son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  the 
Jews'  enemy.  And  the  king  said  unto  Haman,  The  silver  is  given 
to  thee,  the  people  also,  to  do  with  them  as  it  seemeth  good  to  thee. 

Here  we  see  the  danger  of  despotism,  and  the  value  of  liber- 
ty. Ahasuerus  was  none  of  the  worst  of  princes.  Humanity 
appeared  to  characterize  his  government;  yet  we  find  him,  in 
an  unguarded  hour,  and  in  the  effusions  of  his  friendship  to 
an  unworthy  favourite,  giving  his  consent  to  a  massacre,  which, 
if  it  had  been  perpetrated,  must  have  ranked  him  with  the 
most  odious  tyrants  that  ever  lived.  What  tyrant  ever  con- 
signed a  whole  nation  of  subjects  to  destruction  by  a  single  de- 
cree? Caligula,  it  is  said,  wished  that  the  whole  Roman  peo- 
ple had  but  one  neck,  that  he  might  cut  it  off  at  a  single  blow. 
Yet  we  do  not  read  that  he  ever  attempted  to  destroy  at  one 
blow  any  of  the  numerous  nations  that  were  subject  to  the 
Roman  empire.  But  Ahasuerus  compliments  Haman  with 
the  lives  of  a  whole  nation  scattered  through  all  his  domin- 
ions, without  putting  himself  to  the  trouble  of  asking  what 
proof  Haman  had  of  the  crimes,  if  they  could  be  called  crimes, 
that  were  laid  to  their  charge.  The  mischief  of  arbitrary  power 
and  of  slavery  in  nations,  lies  not  chiefly  in  the  insecurity  of 
life,  and  of  property,  but  in  the  tendency  which  they  both 
have  to  corrupt  the  hearts  and  the  morals  of  men.  Could  any 
man,  not  invested  with  unlimited  power,  have  ever  thought 
of  making  such  a  horrid  present  to  one  of  his  favourites? 
When  men  are  taught  that  they  may  do  what  they  please, 
they  must  be  exempted  from  the  weaknesses  and  vices  incident 
to  human  nature,  if  they  always  confine  their  pleasure  within 
the  limits  which  men  must  prescribe  to  themselves  who  are 
limited  by  laws.  Bondage  under  masters  of  unlimited  power, 
has,  on  the  other  side,  a  strong  tendency  to  debase  and  vitiate 
the  soul.     No  wise  man  will  wish  to  possess  the  power  of  do- 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK    OF   ESTHER.  211 

ing  evil.  Every  subject  of  a  free  government  is  no  less  bound 
to  be  thankful  to  God  for  that  precious  blessing,  than  for  food 
and  raiment. 

Ahasuerus  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  an  easy  temper, 
and  ready  to  confer  the  greatest  obligations,  without  delibera- 
tion, on  those  whom  he  loved.  But  there  is  no  true  virtue 
without  judgment  and  steadiness.  A  thoughtless  man,  of  an 
easy  temper,  is  more  likely  to  turn  out  a  vicious  than  an  vir- 
tuous character;  because,  in  a  world  where  so  many  more  bad 
than  good  men  are  to  be  met  with,  he  is  likely  to  give  himself 
up  to  the  guidance  of  those  who  will  lead  him  out  of  the  way 
of  understanding ;  or  if  he  should  be  led  in  the  right  path  by 
some  of  his  friends,  there  are  others  that  will  lead  him  out  of 
it.  Ahasuerus  would  have  heaped  favours  upon  the  Jews,  if 
Mordecai  had  been  to  him  at  this  time  what  Haman  was.  If 
he  was  the  prince  whom  we  take  him  to  have  been,  he  had  al- 
ready conferred  very  high  favours  upon  the  Jews  in  the  seventh 
year  of  his  reign ;  Ezra  vii.  And  now,  at  the  distance  of  five 
years,  he  signs  a  death-warrant  for  the  whole  nation,  without 
knowing  or  thinking  what  he  was  doing.  He  does  not  appear 
to  have  so  much  as  asked  what  that  nation  was  which  Haman 
solicited  him  to  destroy.  For  aught  he  knew,  he  was  giving 
consent  to  a  decree  for  the  destruction  of  his  beloved  queen,  and 
of  Mordecai,  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  his  life.  He  now 
takes  his  ring,  and  gives  it  to  Haman,  to  sign  what  decrees  he 
pleased  to  make.  How  did  he  know  that  Haman  would  not 
sign  a  decree  for  his  own  deposition  or  death?  Some  say  that 
Semiramis  obtained  her  husband's  permission  to  reign  for  five 
days,  and  in  that  time  ordered  her  husband  to  be  slain,  that 
she  might  get  perpetual  possession  of  his  throne. 

Many  have  not  duly  distinguished  between  an  easy  and  a 
good  temper.  An  easy  temper  is  a  very  dangerous  one,  when 
it  is  not  under  the  powerful  restraints  of  wisdom.  It  is  vain 
to  boast  of  a  ready  compliance  witli  every  good  motion  sug- 
gested to  us,  if  we  are  equally  ready  to  comply  with  bad  mo- 
tions. If  we  surrender  ourselves  to  the  direction  of  our  friends, 
we  may  soon  find  that  we  have  given  up  ourselves  to  our  ene- 
mies.    He  is  not  our  friend  who  desires  to  be  our  lord.     A 


212  DISCOUESES   ON   THE  [diSC.  VI. 

true  friend  will  wish  us  to  behave  like  men,  and  like  Chris- 
tians; and  if  we  are  Christians,  we  must  not  be  slaves  of  the 
best  of  men  on  earth.  ^  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price — Be  not 
ye  the  servants  of  men,  but  of  the  Lord  Christ — Please  men 
for  their  good  to  edification.^  Be  always  ready  to  grant  rea- 
sonable requests,  and  to  follow  good  counsels.  But  you  must 
judge  for  yourselves  by  the  light  which  God  hath  given  you, 
what  requests  are  lawful  to  be  granted,  and  what  counsels  are 
worthy  to  be  followed. 

The  silver  is  given  to  thee,  and  the  people  also,  to  do  with  them 
as  it  seemeth  good  to  thee. — Observe  in  what  light  this  prince 
viewed  his  people.  He  considered  them  as  a  part  of  his  goods 
and  chattels,  of  which  he  was  at  liberty  to  dispose  at  his  plea- 
sure. Unhappy  the  people  whose  kings  are  trained  up  in  such 
notions!  Still  more  unhappy  the  princes  whose  minds  are 
swelled,  and  their  hearts  vitiated,  by  such  conceits  of  their 
own  powers!  And  yet,  if  the  people  had  been  as  entirely  the 
king's  property,  as  cattle  are  the  property  of  the  husbandman 
who  rears  them,  would  he  have  been  justified  in  transferring 
his  right  to  an  avowed  butcher?  The  husbandman  incurs  no 
blame  by  giving  up  to  the  slaughter  those  animals  that  may 
be  used  as  food;  but  if  he  should  give  up  to  the  slaughter  those 
beasts  that  are  used  in  work  only,  would  he  not  greatly  abuse 
his  power,  and  incur  the  just  charge  of  wanton  cruelty?  A 
good  man  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast.  A  proud  man  little 
regards  the  life  of  his  fellow-men  in  the  lower  ranks  of  life. 

Verse  12. — Then  were  the  hinges  scribes  called  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  the  first  month,  and  there  was  written,  according  to  all  that 
Hainan  had  commanded,  unto  the  hinges  lieutenants,  and  to  the 
governors  that  were  over  every  province,  and  to  the  rulers  of  every 
jjeojjle  of  every  province  according  to  the  meriting  thereof,  and  to 
every  j)eople  after  their  language:  In  the  name  of  Ahasuerus  was 
it  written,  and  sealed  with  the  king^s  ring. 

The  wickedness  of  the  intended  massacre  does  not  rest  with 
Ahasuerus  and  Haman.  Great  multitudes  of  the  king's  sub- 
jects must  participate  in  the  guilt.  The  governors  and  rulers 
of  every  province,  and  the  people  under  their  command,  have 
letters  written  to  them,  sealed  with  the  king's  seal,  to  con- 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  213 

tribute  their  part  to  the  massacre.  Let  the  great  consider 
what  they  do.  If  they  are  wicked,  they  are  not  wicked  alone. 
They  make  others  sharers  with  them  in  their  guilt:  and  whilst 
they  make  their  inferiors  sin,  they  may  expect  to  bear  tiioir 
execrations  in  hell  for  bringing  them  along  with  thcm.-elve.s 
to  that  place  of  torment. 

These  men  were  greatly  to  be  pitied  who  lived  under  an  ab- 
solute government,  because,  in  many  instances,  they  would 
find  it  necessary  either  to  sin  against  their  own  souls,  or  to 
offend  a  prince  whose  frown  was  death.  AYe  ought  to  bless 
God  that  no  man  hath  power  to  require  us  to  do  any  thing  but 
according  to  the  known  laws  of  the  land :  And  yet  men  of 
true  virtue  will  not  comply  with  the  will  of  the  most  absolute 
monarchs,  when  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  laws  of  justice 
and  of  mercy.  At  the  famous  Bartholomew  massacre,  when 
the  King  of  France  sent  his  orders  to  the  commanders  in  the 
different  provinces  to  massacre  the  Huguenots,  one  of  them 
returned  him  this  answer:  *In  my  district  your  Majesty  has 
many  brave  soldiers,  but  no  butchers.^  That  virtuous  gover- 
nor never  felt  any  effects  of  the  royal  resentment.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  few  of  the  Persian  governors  would  have  given 
such  proofs  of  virtuous  courage,  if  the  king's  edict  had  not 
been  reversed.  We  find  none  of  all  the  governors  of  the  prov- 
inces of  the  Babylonian  empire,  that  refused  to  bow  their 
knees  to  the  graven  image  which  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king 
set  up.  The  subjects  of  princes  wdio  rule  with  unlimited  do- 
minion, are  for  the  most  part  slaves  both  in  body  and  in  soul. 
They  are  taught  from  their  earliest  days,  by  the  examples 
which  they  see  around  them,  to  consider  their  princes  as  gods 
on  earth,  whose  will  must  not  be  disputed. 

Verse  13. — And  the  letters  were  sent  by  posts  unto  all  the  king's 
provinces,  to  destroy,  to  kill,  and  to  cause  to  pefi'ish,  all  Jews,  both 
young  and  old,  little  children  and  women,  in  one  day,  even  upon 
the  thirteenth  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  {ichich  is  tJw  month  Adar,) 
and  to  take  the  spoil  of  them  for  a  prey. 

Malice  must  have  blinded  the  eyes  of  that  wicked  man  to  a 
strange  degree.  He  gives  as  the  reason  why  he  would  have 
the  hated  nation  destroyed,  '  That  they  did  not  keep  the  king's 


214  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VI. 

laws  /  but  in  the  edict  against  them  are  comprehended  many 
thousands  who  could  not  possibly  break  them.  The  little 
children,  who  could  neither  do  good  nor  evil,  may  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  make  a  fourth  or  fifth  part  of  the  whole  nation. 
There  might  be  supposed,  at  least,  as  many  in  the  whole  na- 
tion of  the  Jews  as  at  Nineveh  in  the  days  of  Jonah,  'who 
could  not  discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left.' 
The  king's  humanity  must  have  revolted  at  the  thought  of 
shedding  the  blood  of  so  many  innocents,  as  soon  as  he  re- 
flected calmly  on  this  horrible  decree.  It  is  said,  that  one  of 
the  hardened  bigots  who  killed  many  of  the  Protestants  in  the 
Irish  massacre,  found  his  conscience  tormented  as  long  as  he 
lived  with  the  thought  of  some  babes  whom  he  had  stabbed  in 
the  heat  of  his  zeal.  Their  images  often  presented  themselves 
to  his  fancy,  and  inflicted  severer  pangs  than  the  gibbet  could 
have  done.  What,  then,  must  a  prince,  naturally  of  a  clement 
disposition,  have  thought  in  his  moments  of  reflection,  con- 
cerning a  favourite  who  had,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  per- 
suaded him  to  give  a  death-warrant  against  the  poor  babes  of 
a  whole  nation,  who  could  not  in  any  manner  oifeud  him;  as 
well  as  against  their  fathers  and  mothers,  who  had  done  noth- 
ing to  offend  him,  but  by  observing  the  laws  of  their  fathers? 
Although  Providence  had  not  so  wonderfully  interposed  to 
turn  Haman's  mischief  upon  his  own  head,  it  is  very  probable 
he  would  not  long  have  escaped  the  vengeance  of  his  mis- 
guided prince;  who  could  not  have  forgiven  himself  nor  his 
iuvourite  the  guilt  of  so  many  causeless  murders. 

The  Jews  are  the  people  expressly  mentioned  as  the  un- 
happy objects  of  this  bloody  edict.  Haman  did  not  know  that 
Esther  herself,  no  less  than  Mordecai,  was  included  in  this  in- 
tended proscription.  Had  any  one  drawn  his  sword  against 
the  queen's  life,  what  punishment  could  justly  have  been  in- 
flicted upon  him  by  the  king,  when  he  could  produce  a  warrant 
sealed  with  the  king's  seal? 

But  there  was  another  point  of  still  more  importance  un- 
known to  this  enemy  of  the  Jews ;  that  they  were  a  nation  which 
could  not  be  extirpated,  because  they  were  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  God  of  heaven.     The  malice  of  Haman  could 


CHAP.  in.  7-15.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  215 

no  more  frustrate  the  ancient  oracles  relating  to  the  Jews,  than 
it  could  pull  the  sun  out  of  the  firmament,  and, deprive  the 
world  of  the  light  of  day.  'The  sceptre  was  not  to  depart 
from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  {cot,  till  Shiloh 
should  come.'  The  Shiloh  was  nob  yet  come.  Judah  must 
therefore  continue  a  distinct  nation,  under  governors  that  pro- 
ceeded from  himself  Haman's  malice  will  be  so  far  from 
finding  the  means  of  extirpating  Judah,  that  the  glory  of  that 
people,  though  eclipsed,  must  again  shine  forth  as  the  morning. 

Verse  14. — The  copy  of  the  writing  for  a  cmamandment  to  be 
given  in  every  province,  was  published  unto  all  people,  that  they 
should  be  ready  against  that  day. 

Nebuchadnezzar  gathered  the  governors  of  all  his  provinces 
to  Babylon,  that  they  might  witness  the  honours  done  to  the 
graven  image  that  he  had  set  up.  But  the  event  was  very 
different  from  his  expectation.  They  all  saw  the  disgrace  of 
the  worshippers  of  graven  images,  and  the  glory  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  who  preserved  his  faithful  servants  in  the  midst  of 
that  fire  which  consumed  the  king's  servants  that  cast  them 
into  the  furnace.  Tlius  Haman  caused  the  edict  against  the 
Jews  to  be  published  in  the  language  of  every  people,  that 
they  might  all  be  prepared  to  bear  their  part  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Jews.  But  the  enemies  of  Israel  had  one  thiuir  in 
view,  and  the  God  of  Israel"  quite  another.  Haman  intended 
to  make  the  destruction  of  Judah  as  sure  as  possible,  but  God 
intended  to  make  all  nations  attentive  witnesses  of  his  power 
and  wisdom  displayed  in  counteracting  the  designs  of  theii^ 
enemies,  and  accomplishing  their  salvation.  The  effect  of  such 
an  edict  would  be  the  fixing  of  all  men's  attention  on  the 
ev^ent;  and  the  event  was  to  make  it  evident,  that  there  was 
no  god  like  the  God  of  Israel;  nor  any  people  on  the  earth  so 
much  the  care  of  Heaven,  as  that  nation  which  was  held  in 
abhorrence  by  Haman. 

Verse  15. — The  posts  went  out,  being  hastened  by  the  king's 
commandment,  and  the  decree  was  given  in  iShusIian  the  palace. 
And  the  Icing  and  Haman  sat  down  to  drink;  bid  the  city  Shush<in 
was  perplexed. 

Haman  ^vas  in  great  haste  to  publish  the  decree  through  all 


216  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [DISC.  VT. 

parts  of  the  king's  dominions,  though  it  was  not  to  be  executed 
till  eleven  months  were  elapsed  from  the  time  when  it  was 
enacted.  His  intention  was,  that  every  thing  should  be  in 
readiness  for  the  execution  on  the  proper  day.  But  did  he 
not  outwit  himself?  Would  it  not  have  been  much  better  to 
have  kept  it  a  profound  secret  till  it  could  be  a  secret  no 
longer?  Had  he  no  reason  to  think  that  there  might  be  some 
one  or  other  in  the  king's  large  extended  dominions  that  might 
befriend  the  oppressed  nation,  and  make  the  king  sensible 
how  much  he  had  been  imposed  upon?  AYhat  if  some  one  of 
the  king's  noble  princes,  envying  Haman's  credit,  might  take 
the  advantage  which  the  atrocious  cruelty  and  injustice  of  the 
decree  gave  him,  of  opening  the  king's  eyes  to  the  wickedness 
of  his  conduct?  The  Jews  themselves,  at  least,  might  be  ex- 
pected to  adopt  some  measure,  either  to  preserve  themselves, 
or  to  sell  their  lives  dear.  What  if  despair  should  inspire 
them  with  courage  to  aim  a  deadly  blow  at  the  head  of  this 
oppressor?  They  could  make  the  attempt  without  risking 
their  lives,  when  they  were  already  under  sentence  of  death. 
Their  losing  their  lives  a  few  months  sooner  than  the  time 
fixed,  would  be  a  relief  to  them  from  so  many  months  of  an- 
guish. 

In  the  folly  of  Haman's  conduct,  we  see  the  wisdom  of  God 
over-ruling  the  counsels  of  the  wicked,  to  serve  his  own  pur- 
poses; and  infataating  them,  that  he  might  destroy  them. 
The  Jews  have  time  to  pray,  and  confess  their  sins.  The  terror 
into  which  they  were  thrown,  would  put  them  in  mind  of  Him 
who  was  4he  Hope  of  Israel,  and  the  Saviour  thereof  in  the 
time  of  trouble.'  God  himself  was  in  the  mean  time  ^  whetting 
his  sword,  and  making  it  ready.  He  was  preparing  for  him 
the  instruments  of  death,  that  the  violent  dealing'  of  the  wicked 
Haman  'might  come  down  upon  his  own  head.' 

Haman,  in  the  mean  time,  gives  up  himself  to  pleasure  and 
jollity,  in  which  he  had  the  honour  to  be  companion  to  the 
king.  He  will  soon  find  that  'the  end  of  this  mirth  is  heavi- 
ness.' The  city  Shushan  was  perplexed,  when  the  king  and 
Haman  were  enjoying  this  merriment.  What  heart  could 
be  free  from  perplexity  on  such  an  occasion?     The  Jews  were 


CHAP.  III.  7-15.]  BOOK   OP   ESTHER.  217 

known  to  be  as  innocent  as  their  neighbours.  Many  of  them 
resided  in  the  city  of  Shushan.  The  prospect  of  their  misera- 
ble and  unmerited  fate  was  terrible.  Who  could  tell  where 
such  mischiefs  were  to  end?  Haman  might  next  day  ])etition 
his  deluded  master  to  compliment  him  with  a  like  sacrifice  of 
other  lives.  The  people  of  Shushan  at  this  time  would  be  in 
much  the  same  state  of  mind  ^mh  a  Persian  minister  of  state 
in  later  times,  who  said,  that  he  never  left  the  king's  presence 
without  putting  his  hand  to  his  head,  that  he  might  feel 
whether  it  was  still  standing  on  his  shoulders. 

We  have  reason  to  bless  God  that  most  men  in  civilized  na- 
tions feel  an  abhorrence  at  bloody  crimes.  Many  who  scruple 
not  to  lie,  or  to  cheat,  would  be  struck  with  horror  at  the 
guilt  of  murder  in  themselves  or  others.  Many  and  gracious 
are  the  methods  used  by  God  for  the  security  of  the  life  of  that 
favourite  creature  which  he  made  after  his  own  image.  May 
we  spend  those  lives  to  his  glory,  which  are  protracted  by  his 
goodness ! 


218  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VII. 


DISCOURSE  VII 


THE  GRIEF  OF  MOEDECAI  AND  THE  OTHER  JEWS  AT  HEARING  OF  THE 

BLOODY  EDICT — MORDECAI  SOLICITS  ESTHER  TO  INTERCEDE  WITH 

THE  KING  ON  THEIR  BEHALF. 

CHAPTER  IV.   1-11. 

Verse  1. —  When  3Iordecai  perceived  all  that  was  done,  Mor~ 
decai  rent  his  doilies,  and  put  on  sackcloth  with  ashes,  and  went 
out  into  the  midst  of  the  city,  and  cried  with  a  loud  and  bitter  cry. 

MoR DECAI  was  watchful  over  the  interests  of  his  people, 
and  deeply  aiFected  with  all  their  concerns;  Chap.  x.  3.    Judge, 
then,  what  must  have  been  his  feelings,  when  he  was  informed 
that  an  edict  had  passed  for  their  destruction !     But  what  was 
still  more  distressing  to  him,  was  the  consideration  that  him- 
self was  the  occasion  of  it.     He  could  not  reflect  upon  his  own 
conduct,  indeed,  as  the  proper  cause  of  the  mischief.     He  had 
done  nothing  but  what  his  conscience  approved,  and  what  he 
still  resolved  to  do  in  similar  circumstances;  Chap.  v.  9.     And 
wlio  could  ever  have  imagined  that  the  revenge  of  Haman  would 
have  extended  farther  than  his  own  life?     But  still  he  must 
have  been  penetrated  with  bitter  anguish  at  the  thought  that  the 
sanguinary  decree  originated  in  Haman's  revenge  against  his 
own  conduct.     And,  as  David  told  Abiathar  that  he  had  been 
the  occasion  of  the  death  of  all  the  persons  of  his  father's  house, 
so  he  might  be  reflected  on  by  the  Jews  as  the  death  of  every 
person  of  their  nation.     With  cutting  reflections  he  would 
think  on  the  day  when  he  first  entered  into  the  king's  service. 
If  he  liad  not  been  one  of  the  men  that  sat  in  the  king's  gate, 
he  might  never  have  seen  Haman's  face;  and  the  decree  would 
never  have  been  thought  of.     Why  did  he  still  reside  in   a 
foreign  land,  when  he  might  have  been  a  dweller  in  the  Holy 


CHAP.  IV.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  210 

Land,  with  his  brethren  who  had  returned  froni  their  cap- 
tivity? Why  had  he  not  rather  ehosen  the  meanest  eonditlon, 
which  would  have  kept  him  at  a  distance  from  kings  and 
courts,  than  a  situation  which  had  so  unhappily  involved  liini- 
seif  and  all  his  people  in  the  danger  of  utter  extermination? 
Had  a  sentence  of  death  been  pronounced  upon  himself;  and 
his  beloved  Esther  and  all  the  persons  of  his  father's  house 
been  comprehended  in  the  sentence ;  his  grief  would  have  been 
very  great,  but  in  no  wise  comparable  to  what  he  felt  from  the 
present  danger  of  all  his  people. 

Poor  Mordecai  had  it  not  in  his  power  to  confine  his  an- 
guish to  his  own  bosom,  or  to  his  own  house.  He  published 
it  through  all  the  city  of  Shushan.  You  need  not  ask  for 
what  reasons  persons  overwhelmed  with  grief  do  not  inquire 
what  purpose  the  publication  of  their  grief  may  serve.  The 
strong  impulse  of  sorrow  often  makes  them  publish  their  com- 
plaints to  the  winds  or  to  the  trees.  Yet  who  knows  what  good 
end  it  might  serve  to  announce  the  unmerited  calamity  of  the 
Jews  through  the  whole  city  of  Shushan?  There  might  be 
some  compassionate  hearts  amongst  the  people  that  would  be 
interested  by  such  a  dire  calamity :  and  though  the  people  had 
no  direct  access  to  the  king,  yet  they  could  present  their  sup- 
plications to  the  counsellors  who  saw  his  face;  or  if  nothing 
could  be  gained,  nothing  could  be  lost  by  men  already  doomed 
to  death. 

We  are  not,  after  all,  to  suppose  that  Mordecai's  sorrow  was 
altogether  hopeless.  His  faith  in  God  might  be  shaken,  but 
it  was  not  destroyed.  He  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  many 
precious  promises  concerning  the  Lord's  redeemed  captives, 
which  were  to  be  found  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  of  Jere- 
miah, of  Ezekiel,  and  of  many  other  prophets.  The  Jews, 
restored  to  their  land,  or  scattered  among  the  nations,  might 
be  sore  vexed,  but  they  could  not  be  utterly  destroyed.  God's 
promise  could  not  fail  for  evermore.  '  Deliverance,'  said  Mor- 
decai, ^ shall  rise  up  to  the  Jews.'  Yet  he  did  not  know  liow 
or  when  it  would  arise.  He  did  not  know  but  many  miglit 
lose  their  lives  before  deliverance  came.  He  mourned  sore, 
although  he  did  not  mourn  like  one  that  had  no  hope. 


220  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VII. 

Verse  2. — And  came  even  before  the  hinges  gate:  for  none 
might  enter  into  the  king's  gate  clothed  with  sachcloth. 

Mordecai  might  go  where  he  pleased  with  his  sackcloth  and 
ashes,  excepting  only  to  that  place  where  his  duty  required  his 
attendance.  Not  those  who  are  clothed  in  garments  of  heavi- 
ness, but  those  who  wear  gay  clothing,  are  in  king's  palaces. 
AVithin  the  gates  of  the  palace  of  Shushan,  badges  of  sorrow 
w^ere  criminal.  The  king  could  not  banish  trouble  of  heart; 
he  could  not  banish  sickness,  or  vexation,  or  death  from  his 
palace ;  but  he  banished  all  those  ordinary  signs  by  which  grief 
is  expressed.  The  maker  of  this  law  was  certainly  of  a  dif- 
ferent judgment  from  a  much  wiser  king,  who  advises  men  to 
go  to  the  house  of  mourning  rather  than  the  house  of  feasting ; 
Eccles.  vii.  2.  We  have  heard  of  princes  that  forbade  dea,th 
to  be  mentioned  in  their  presence.  How  terrible  must  the  har- 
bingers of  death  have  been  to  those  great  personages !  Since 
the  last  enemy  must  be  encountered  by  the  greatest  as  well  as 
the  least  of  our  race,  is  it  not  far  better  to  be  prepared  for 
meeting  him,  than  to  banish  him  from  our  thoughts? 

Verse  3. — And  in  every  province  whithersoever  the  king^s  com- 
mandment y  and  his  decree  came^  there  was  great  mourning  among 
the  Jews,  and  fasting ,  and.  weeping  and  wailing ,  and  many  lay  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes. 

*In  this  day  did  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  call  to  weeping  and 
to  mourning,  and  to  baldness,  and  to  girding  with  sackcloth;' 
and  the  call  was  so  loud  and  awful  that  it  commanded  com- 
pliance. All  that  loved  their  lives,  all  that  loved  their  friends 
and  brethren,  mourned  bitterly,  and  refused  to  be  comforted. 
All  that  had  any  impression  of  religion  among  the  Jews,  joined 
religious  fasting  to  their  expressions  of  grief,  that  they  might 
pour  out  tears  unto  God.  And  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that 
religious  impressions  would  be  now  felt  even  by  those  who  had 
forgotten  God  in  their  days  of  prosperity. 

If  a  sentence  of  death  pronounced  by  an  earthly  sovereign 
produced  such  grief,  such  anxiety,  such  cries  for  deliverance, 
what  impression  ought  to  be  made  on  the  minds  of  sinners  by 
that  sentence  which  is  passed  against  them  in  the  court  of 
heaven — 'Judgment  is  come  upon  all  men  to  condemnation!' 


CHAP.  IV.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  221 

We  are  still  under  that  sentence  of  condemnation,  if  we  are 
not  in  Christ  Jesus.  Surely  we  believe  neither  law  nor  gos- 
pel, if  we  can  enjoy  peace  in  our  own  minds,  without  the  hum- 
ble hope  of  mercy  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  etL-rnal 
life. 

Verse  4. — So  Esther^ s  maids  and  her  chamberlains  came,  and 
told  it  her.  Then  was  the  queen  exceedingly  grieved ;  and  sJie  sent 
raiment  to  clothe  3fordecai,  and  to  take  away  his  sackcloth  from 
him:  hut  he  received  it  not. 

Esther  was  advanced  to  the  highest  station  which  a  woman 
could  fill.  She  dwelt  in  a  magnificent  palace,  where  she  might 
fare  sumptuously,  if  she  pleased,  every  day.  Her  wardrobe 
was  filled  with  a  rich  profusion  of  raiment  embroidered  with 
gold.  She  was  attended  by  maids  and  chamberlains  devoted 
to  her  will.  But  did  she  find  happiness  in  that  magnificence 
which  surrounded  her,  or  in  the  riches  which  she  might  use, 
or  abuse,  at  her  pleasure?  She  might,  indeed,  be  thankful 
that  her  condition  was  such  as  it  was,  when  she  considered  the 
humiliating  condition  of  the  other  ladies  of  the  king.  But 
her  palace  was  a  prison.  She  could  not  enjoy  the  society  of 
her  former  friends,  or  even  of  her  beloved  Mordecai.  She 
was,  at  this  time,  ignorant  of  the  pitiable  condition  of  her  na- 
tion. She  was  cut  off  from  her  wonted  sources  of  pleasure, 
and  the  man  to  whom  she  must  now  devote  her  life  seemed 
almost  to  have  forgotten  her.  The  happiness  of  men  and 
women  is  by  no  means  proportioned  to  their  station,  their 
riches,  their  power,  or  their  manner  of  living.  There  are 
vexations  annexed  to  greatness,  of  which  the  poor  have  little 
apprehension;  and  there  are  comforts  within  the  reach  of  the 
poor  as  little  known  to  the  great.  Those  who  know  the  world 
^will  see  little  reason  to  envy  their  superiors;  and  the  great 
have  no  reason  to  look  down  with  disdain  upon  the  lowest 
ranks. 

Esther,  in  her  elevation,  and  in  her  separation  from  her 
friends,  was  far  from  forgetting  them.  She  was  deeply  af- 
flicted when  she  heard  of  the  mourning  habit  and  sore  aiflic- 
tion  of  Mordecai.  She  was  vexed  that  he  should  ap})car  at 
the  king's  gate  in  a  dress  in  which  he  could  not  enter  it,  and 


222  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VII. 

therefore  sent  to  him  change  of  raiment.  But  she  knew  not 
the  sources  of  his  distress.  Grief  so  firmly  rooted,  and  so  well 
founded,  could  not  be  removed  without  a  removal  of  its  cause. 
To  send  him  change  of  raiment  was  like  singing  songs  to  a 
heavy  heart.  Mordecai  was  doubtless  pleased  with  her  kind 
attention :  but  she  must  do  something  of  a  very  different  na- 
ture to  banish  his  sorrows. 

Verse  5. — Then  called  Esther  for  Hatach,  one  of  the  hinges 
chamberlains  J  ichom  he  had  appointed  to  attend  upon  her,  and 
gave  him  a  commandment  to  Mordecai ,  to  know  what  it  was,  and 
tchy  it  was. 

If  we  weep  in  sincerity  with  those  that  weep,  it  will  be  our 
desire,  if  possible,  to  remove  their  sorrows.  But  to  this  end 
it  is  necessary  to  know  their  cause.  Physicians  cannot  ad- 
minister proper  medicines  to  their  patients,  unless  they  know 
the  causes  of  their  diseases.  They  may  palliate  the  symptoms, 
the  root  of  the  distemper  remains  if  the  cause  is  not  removed. 
So,  we  may  soothe  the  minds  of  persons  labouring  under  grief, 
and  cause  them  for  a  time  to  forget  their  sorrows;  but  if  they 
are  rooted  in  the  mind,  they  will  soon  recover  their  force,  and 
hold  the  soul  in  misery,  unless  the  causes  are  removed:  And 
these  cannot  be  removed  but  by  a  change  in  those  outward 
circumstances  which  occasioned  them,  or  by  a  change  in  the 
state  of  the  mind,  when  it  is  convinced  that  the  supposed  causes 
do  not  exist,  or  that  they  are  not  sufficient  grounds  for  the 
sorrows  they  occasioned,  or  that  relief  or  consolation  may  be 
found,  or  virtue  sufficient  to  counteract  their  force. 

Esther  could  not  now  visit  Mordecai,  or  call  him  to  her 
palace,  and  therefore,  conversing  with  him  by  means  of  a  third 
person,  inquires  into  the  causes  of  his  distress,  with  a  sincere 
intention  to  do  every  thing  in  her  power  to  set  his  heart  at 
ease. 

Verses  6,  7,  8. — So  Hatach  went  forth  to  Mordecai  unto  the 
street  of  the  city,  which  was  before  the  hing\s  gate;  and  Mordecai 
told  him  of  all  that  had  happened  unto  him,  and  of  the  sum  of  the 
money  that  Haman  had  promised  to  pay  to  the  king's  treamiries 
for  the  Jews,  to  destroy  them:  Also  he  gave  him  the  copy  of  the 
writing  of  the  decree  that  was  given  at  Shushan  to  destroy  them, 


CHAP.  IV.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  223 

to  sJww  it  unto  Esther,  and  to  declare  it  unto  her;  and  to  charfje 
her  that  she  should  go  in  unto  the  king,  to  make  supplication  unto 
him,  and  to  make  request  before  him  for  her  people. 

It  is  unpleasant  to  be  the  messenger  of  bad  tidings.  It  is, 
however,  often  useful.  If  a  physician  saw  you  labouring  un- 
der a  mortal  distemper,  and  insensible  to  your  danger,  he  is 
the  preserver  of  your  life,  when,  by  warning  you  of  the  peril 
of  your  condition,  he  rouses  your  fear,  and  excites  to  apply  the 
proper  remedy.  Esther  must  have  been  shocked  beyond 
measure  at  hearing  of  the  sentence  of  death  pronounced  against 
her  dearest  friends,  against  her  whole  people,  against  herself, 
by  the  man  who  had  raised  her  to  a  share  in  his  bed,  and  in 
his  throne,  without  a  crime  proved  against  any  one  of  them. 
But  it  was  better  to  hear  of  it  at  present,  than  ten  or  eleven 
months  afterwards,  when  it  would  be  too  late  to  provide  a 
remedy. 

There  are  some  who  cannot  bear  to  hear  of  any  bad  tidings, 
however  true;  and  think  those  men  their  enemies  who  tell  them 
the  truth.  They  consider  those  friends  or  preachers  as  their 
enemies  who  speak  to  them  of  their  sins,  and  of  the  judgments 
of  God  denounced  against  them.  But  was  not  Esther  under 
deep  obligations  to  Mordecai  for  informing  her  of  the  danger 
of  her  people,  and  urging  her  to  exert  her  influence  for  pre- 
serving them?  Whether  was  Ahab  most  indebted  to  those 
prophets  who  told  him  that  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  would 
give  him  victory  at  Ramoth-Gilead;  or  to  him  who  told  him 
that  he  would  fall  in  the  battle?  By  following  the  counsel 
of  the  former,  he  lost  his  life;  he  might  have  preserved  it,  if 
he  had  believed  the  latter. 

It  is  indeed  cruel  to  distress  men  by  false  or  doubtful  in- 
telligence of  calamities  that  have  not  happened,  or,  if  they 
have  happened,  cannot  be  remedied.  Mordecai  was  far  from 
wishing  to  disquiet  the  mind  of  his  royal  friend  by  uncertain 
rumours.  But  he  had  too  good  intelligence  to  be  mistaken; 
and  he  puts  into  her  hands  decisive  proofs  of  the  danger  of 
her  people,  and  of  Haman's  activity  in  procuring  their  ruin. 
Nor  did  he  give  her  this  intelligence  to  torment  her  before 
the  time.     If  nothing  could  have  been  done  to  avert  the  dan- 


224  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VII. 

ger,  he  might  have  permitted  her  to  enjoy  tranquillity  till  it 
could  be  concealed  no  longer.  But  who  could  tell  what  might 
be  the  result  of  supplication  to  the  king,  especially  from  a 
queen  who  was  understood  to  be  the  object  of  his  warmest 
love?  He  therefore  desires,  or  rather  requires,  her  to  go  in 
and  make  intercession  to  the  king  for  her  people,  and  for  her 
own  life. 

Mordecai  uses  authority  in  his  language  to  the  queen,  and 
does  her  great  honour  by  using  such  language.  He  durst  not 
have  charged  her  to  do  her  duty,  if  he  had  not  known  her 
humbleness  of  mind  in  her  greatness.  She  was  as  much  dis- 
posed as  in  her  youngest  days  to  give  him  the  authority  of  a 
father;  and  this  he  knew  so  well,  that  he  uses  it  without  scruple 
or  apology.  Happy  are  those  on  whom  prosperity  makes  no 
change  but  for  the  better ! 

He  charges  her  to  make  intercession  to  the  king.  The 
knowledge  of  that  dreadful  situation  in  which  the  Jews  were 
j^laced,  was  to  be  improved  by  all  the  Jews  as  a  call  to  fasting 
and  intercession  with  the  God  of  heaven,  on  whom  their  hope 
was  to  rest.  But  it  was  to  be  improved  by  the  queen  in  par- 
ticular, as  a  motive  to  the  exertion  of  all  her  influence  with 
the  king.  All,  according  to  their  places  and  stations,  are 
bound  to  do  what  they  can  to  avert  threatened  miseries  from 
their  nation.  But  some  are  bound  to  do  much  more  than 
others,  because  they  have  peculiar  opportunities,  which,  if  they 
are  not  improved,  must  render  them  in  some  degree  accounta- 
ble for  the  mischiefs  consequent  on  their  neglect.  Those  who 
can  do  nothing  by  their  own  power,  may  do  much  by  their 
influence  with  others.  In  the  reign  of  the  bloody  Jehoiakim, 
the  princes  of  Judah  saved  Jeremiah  from  his  hands.  If  these 
princes  had  not  used  their  influence  for  this  purpose,  they 
must  have  shared  in  the  guilt  of  his  blood. 

Verse  9.— And  Hatach  came  and  told  Esther  the  words  of 
3Iordecai. 

*A  faithful  messenger  refresheth  the  soul  of  him  that  sent 
him.'  Hatach  was  a  faithful  messenger,  and  yet  he  stunned 
his  employer.  But  refreshment  to  her  soul  was  the  conse- 
quence in  due  time  of  his  fidelity,  and  of  Mordecai's  firmness. 


CHAP.  IV,  1-11.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  225 

Verses  10,  11.— ^^am  Esther  spake  unto  Tlaiach,  and  c/ave 
him  commandment  unto  Mordecai;  All  the  himfs  servants,  and 
the  people  of  the  king's  provinces,  do  know,  that  whosoever,  whether 
man  or  tvoman,  shall  come  unto  the  king  into  the  inner  court,  who 
is  not  called,  there  is  one  law  of  his  to  put  him  to  death,  except 
such  to  ichom  the  king  shall  hold  out  the  golden  sceptre  that  he 
may  live;  but  I  have  not  been  called  to  come  in  unto  the  king  these 
thirty  days, 

Esther  was  not  unwilling,  but  she  was  afraid,  to  go  in  unto 
the  king.  She  does  not  absolutely  refuse;  but  she  objects 
against  compliance  with  Mordecai's  charge.  If  Mordecai  can 
find  out  no  other  probable  means  of  safety,  she  will  undertake 
the  business:  but  she  earnestly  desires  to  be  excused,  if  some 
other  can  be  found  to  undertake  the  cause,  whose  interest  with 
the  king  may  be  greater  than  her's. 

Some  are  too  ready  to  undertake  services  for  which  they 
are  unqualified.  But  dangerous  services  are  too  often  declined 
by  those  who  are  both  called  to  undertake  them,  and  best 
qualified  to  execute  them.  Moses  was  eminently  qualified  by 
God  to  be  the  deliverer  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  and  clearly 
called;  and  yet  he  earnestly  desired  God  to  excuse  him;  and 
this  he  did  again  and  again  on  various  pretenses,  till  he  saw 
God's  anger  kindled  against  him.  Let  us  never  trust  to  our- 
selves, as  if  we  were  able  of  ourselves  to  think  so  much  as  a 
good  thought.  But  let  us  never  distrust  God,  as  if  he  would 
*send  us  a  warfare  on  our  own  charges.'  If  we  can  believe, 
'all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth' — Svhen  he  is 
weak,  then  he  is  strong.' 

Danger  of  death  is  one  of  Esther's  objections  against  under- 
taking this  business.  This,  too,  was  one  secret  reason  that 
made  Moses  so  unwilling  to  undertake  the  work  of  delivering 
Israel.  There  is  a  strong  love  of  life  implanted  in  us  by  God, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  give  up  life  even  to  Him  that  gave  it. 
Tliere  are  few  so  courageous  as  Paul,  who  was  moved  by  noth- 
ing that  is  grievous  to  other  men;  and  who  ^counted  not  life 
itself  dear  to  him,  that  he  might  finish  his  course  with  joy.' 
But  when  we  compare  Paul's  courage  with  the  fears  of  Moses 
or  Estlier,  or  other  Old  Testament  believers,  let  us  remember 
15 


226  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  VII. 

the  advantages  that  Paul  enjoyed  above  them,  by  living  in  that 
happy  period  when  Jesns  *had  abolished  death,  and  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  by  the  gospel.' 

But  why  was  Esther  so  afraid  of  her  life,  if  she  should  make 
intercession  to  the  king  for  the  life  of  her  people?  Was  it  so 
criminal  in  the  court  of  Persia  to  present  a  supplication  to  the 
king?  Or,  if  it  was  a  crime  in  others,  was  it  a  crime  even  in 
the  queen?  Yes;  it  was  universally  known,  says  Esther,  and 
Mordecai  could  not  well  be  ignorant  of  it,  that  if  any  person 
should  venture,  uncalled,  to  approach  the  king  in  the  inner 
court  of  his  palace,  he  must  be  put  to  death,  unless  the  king 
was  pleased  graciously  to  pardon  him;  nor  was  the  queen  her- 
self excepted  from  the  penalties  of  this  law.  The  laws  of  the 
Persians  were  strange  indeed!  No  man  was  allowed  in  a 
mourning-habit  to  enter  into  the  king's  gate;  and  no  man  in 
any  apparel  was  allowed  to  come  near  the  king  in  the  inner 
court.  Did  these  kings  ever  consider  for  what  end  they  were 
elevated  above  their  fellow-men  ?  Was  it  not  to  defend  the 
poor  and  the  afflicted,  and  to  do  judgment  and  justice  to  all 
their  people?  How  could  they  do  the  duties  of  princes,  if 
they  were  inaccessible  to  their  people?  But  if  it  was  a  crime 
to  intrude  into  the  private  apartments  of  the  palace,  and  to 
disturb  the  privacy  of  the  prince,  was  it  one  of  those  atrocious 
crimes  that  can  be  justly  punished  with  death?  Could  no 
milder  punishment  assuage  the  wrath  of  a  proud  mortal,  who 
wished  to  make  himself  invisible  like  his  Maker?  Surely  it 
may  be  said  of  a  law  that  punished  an  offense  like  this  with 
death,  that  it  was  written  in  blood;  and  of  a  government 
which  would  establish  such  laws,  that  Daniel  had  too  good 
reason  to  represent  it  by  the  emblem  of  a  bear;  Dan.  vii.  5. 

Blessed  be  God,  the  laws  of  heaven  are  not  like  those  of  the 
Persians !  Our  King  ^  who  dwells  on  high,'  is  at  all  times  ac- 
cessible to  the  afflicted  mourner.  The  poor  and  the  afflicted 
had  ready  access  to  Jesus  while  he  was-  upon  the  earth ;  nor 
is  He  less  accessible  in  his  state  of  glory.  At  all  times  we 
may  come  near  to  God,  even  to  his  throne  of  grace,  that  we 
may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need. 

Esther  was  believed  by  Mordecai  to  be  a  great  favourite 


CHAP.  IV.  1-11.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  227 

with  the  king;  and,  doubtless,  there  was  a  time  when  she  was 
very  dear  to  him.  But  Esther  was  afraid  that  this  time  was 
past)  and  questioned  whether  Mordecai  woukl  insist  upon  the 
charge  he  had  given  her,  when  he  was  informed,  that  for  thirty 
days  past  she  had  not  been  called  to  go  in  unto  the  king. 
This  she  considered  as  a  sign  that  his  affection  was  alienatrd, 
and  that  it  was  questionable  whether  the  golden  sceptre  would 
be  held  out  to  her,  if  she  should  presume  to  enter  the  king's 
apartment.  What  reason  the  king  had  for  this  coldness  to 
his  virtuous  queen,  we  know  not.  This  is  plain,  that  it  was 
a  providential  trial  appointed  for  Esther,  by  which  it  M'ould 
be  known  whether  she  had  the  courage  to  serve  her  people  and 
her  God  at  the  risk  of  her  life.  It  was  a  severe  trial  of  her 
faith  and  charity.  She  felt  the  force  of  the  discouragement ; 
and  expressed  her  sense  of  it  to  Mordecai,  that  she  might  re- 
ceive further  directions  from  him. 

To  whatever  difficult  duty  w^e  are  called,  we  may  lay  gur 
account  with  trials.  If  thou  desirest  to  serve  the  Lord,  look 
for  temptation.  But  remember,  that  'the  man  is  blessed  who 
endureth  temptation;  for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  of 
the  Lord  the  crown  of  life  which  he  hath  promised  to  them 
that  love  him.'  Those  who  have  held  on  in  the  path  of  duty, 
under  sore  temptation,  shall  at  last  'stand  before  the  throne 
of  God  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands' — 'But  the 
fearful  and  unbelieving  shall  have  their  portion  in  the  lake  of 
fire  burning  with  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death.' 


228  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VIII. 


DISCOURSE  VIII 


MORDECAI   INSISTS  ON  THE  CHARGE  TO  ESTHER  TO  GO  IN  UNTO  THE 

KING — SHE  COMPLIES  WITH  HIS  DESIRE;   BUT  REQUIRES  HIM  TO 

PROCURE  FOR  HER  THE  HELP  OF   THE  SOLEMN   PRAYERS  OF  ALL 

THE  JEWS  IN  SHUSHAN. 

CHAPTER  IV.  12-17. 

Verses  12,  13. — And  they  told  to  3Iordecai  Esther^ s  words. 
Then  Mordecai  commanded  to  answer  Esther,  Thinh  not  with 
thyself  that  thou  shalt  escape  in  the  hinges  house,  more  than  all 
tlie  Jews. 

1%  is  necessary  for  those  who  desire  to  be  useful  to  the  souls 
of  their  neighbours,  not  only  to  tell  them,  as  occasion  requires, 
what  it  is  their  duty  to  do;  but  to  repeat  their  admonitions, 
to  enforce  them  by  reasons,  and  to  obviate  those  objections 
which  rise  up  in  their  minds  against  the  performance  of  it. 
Those  who  desire  a  good  increase  from  the  seed  sown  in  their 
fields,  must  plow  the  ground  over  and  over,  if  it  is  stiff;  must 
root  up  the  weeds:  must  cover  the  seed  with  the  harrow.  In 
like  manner,  instructors  must  often  repeat  their  good  advices, 
and  enforce  them  by  arguments,  and  make  it  to  appear  how 
weak  those  reasons  are  which  our  slothful  dispositions  set  in 
opposition  to  our  duty.  Eli  admonished  his  sons  to  repent; 
but  he  did  not  follow  up  his  admonitions  with  new  reproofs, 
and  warnings,  and  corrections.  For  this  reason  the  Lord  re- 
proved Eli  himself  as  an  accessary  to  the  sin  of  his  children. 
Mordecai  charged  Esther  to  go  in  unto  the  king;  but  when 
Esther  wished  to  be  excused,  he  did  not  satisfy  himself  with 
what  he  had  already  done,  as  if  he  had  already  discharged  his 
part  of  the  duty.     He  renews  his  charge,  he  enforces  it  by 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  229 

powerful  arguments,  and  he  prevails.  He  was  but  a  poor  sub- 
ject of  that  king  who  had  made  Estlicr  his  queen.  But  tlio 
grandeur  of  her  station  did  not  hinder  him  from  using  all  free- 
dom in  dealing  with  her.  He  was  her  father.  She  was  still 
his  daughter  in  her  heart  as  much  as  ever.  He  knew  her 
modesty,  her  veneration  for  himself,  her  contempt  of  earthly 
grandeur;  and  makes  use  of  his  influence  with  her  to  excite 
her  to  her  duty.  Happy  are  those  friends  who  freely  make 
use  of  their  mutual  influence  for  such  purposes! 

Esther  was  afraid  of  her  life  if  she  should  go  in  unto  the 
king.  Mordecai  shows  her,  that  if  she  valued  her  own  life, 
she  ought  to  go  in  unto  him,  and  to  make  supplication  to  him 
for  her  people.  Her  safety  lay  not  in  shunning,  but  in  doing, 
a  duty  so  needful.  She  might  risk  her  life  in  venturing  to  do 
a  thing  which  was  prohibited  by  the  unreasonable  laws  of 
Persia;  but  she  must  lose  it  by  refusing  to  obey  the  command- 
ment of  God, -which  requires  us  to  use  all  lawful  endeavours 
to  preserve  our  own  life,  and  the  life  of  others. 

It  was  natural  for  Esther  to  think  that  lier  own  life  was  in 
no  danger  from  the  bloody  decree.  Her  husband  had  unknow- 
ingly signed  a  warrant  for  her  death  :  But  who  would  venture 
to  lift  up  his  hand  against  the  queen?  Or  what  would  it  avail 
her  murderers  to  allege  the  king's  law,  when  the  king  himself, 
who  was  above  the  law,  would  consider  the  cause  as  his  own? 
We  must  not,  however,  entertain  such  a  mean  opinion  of  Esther 
as  to  think,  that  she  would  be  less  zealous  in  the  cause,  because 
she  might  apprehend  herself  to  be  safe.  Yet  Mordecai  hopes 
to  quicken  her  zeal,  by  letting  her  know  that  she  was  not  more 
safe  than  other  Jews.  God  would  find  some  means  to  free 
them  from  their  danger;  but  Esther,  though  in  the  king's 
house,  must  not  expect  to  escape  if  she  deserted  the  cause  of 
God,  and  of  his  people  in  their  extreme  danger. 

Human  probabilities  were  on  her  side.  The  king,  though 
perhaps  alienated  from  her,  would  not  suffer  himself  to  be  in- 
sulted by  a  murder  perpetrated  upon  his  queen,  and  in  his 
own  palace.  Even  Haman  himself  would  not  dare  to  arm  an 
assassin  against  the  queen.  But  we  are  not  to  trust  to  human 
probabilities.    God  is  the  author  and  the  preserver  of  our  lives. 


230  DISCOUKSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VIII. 

When  He  withdraws  his  protection,  we  are  undone;  and  how 
could  Esther  expect  his  protection,  if  she  refused,  at  the  loud 
call  of  his  providence,  and  at  the  pressing  admonition  of  Mor- 
decai,  to  seek  the  life  of  her  people?  'If  thou  forbear  to  de- 
liver them  that  are  drawn  unto  death,  and  them  that  are  ready 
to  be  slain;  if  thou  sayest.  Behold,  we  knew  it  not,  doth  not 
He  that  pondereth  the  heart  consider  it?  and  He  that  keepeth,^ 
or  He  that  observeth,  Hhy  soul,  doth  not  He  know  it?  and  shall 
not  He  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works?'  Are  we 
worthy  to  have  our  lives  preserved,  if  we  show  no  concern  for 
the  lives  of  our  fellow-men?  Are  we  not  in  some  measure 
chargeable  with  those  deaths  which  we  do  not  endeavour,  if 
it  is  in  our  power,  to  prevent?  Let  it  be  remembered,  that 
the  life  of  the  soul  is  infinitely  more  precious  than  that  of  the 
body,  and  that  we  have  more  frequent  opportunities  of  con- 
tributing to  the  salvation  of  souls,  than  to  the  preservation  of 
natural  life;  though  we  have  more  opportunities  of  the  latter 
sort  than  we  carefully  improve,  or  perhaps  think  about.  When 
we  see  men  wasting  their  bodies,  and  shortening  their  days, 
by  idleness,  by  intemperance,  by  the  indulgence  of  those  bitter 
))as5ions  which  are  as  rottenness  to  the  bones,  we  may  con- 
tribute to  the  life  of  both  soul  and  body,  by  good  advice,  by 
earnest  expostulation,  by  our  prayers  to  God.  By  our  prayers, 
by  our  holy  example,  by  well-timed  and  well-advised  reproofs 
and  exhortations,  we  may  save  souls  from  death.  If  we  do  not 
what  God  enables  us  to  do  for  the  salvation  of  perishing  souls, 
are  we  not  accessary  to  their  perdition? 

Think  not  that  because  thou  art  in  the  hinges  house,  thou  shalt 
he  safe. — It  is  vain  to  trust  in  kings,  or  in  the  sons  of  men,  in 
whom  there  is  no  confidence.  Kings  die.  'In  that  day  their 
breath  goes  forth,  and  their  thoughts  perish.^  Kings  are  change- 
able creatures,  like  other  men.  The  kings  were  not  like  the 
laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  which  could  not  be  altered.  He 
that  was  in  the  morning  their  favourite,  might,  before  the  even- 
ing, be  hanged  by  their  orders.  Herod,  king  of  Judea,  dearly 
loved  his  wife  Mariamne,  and  yet  he  ordered  her  to  be  put  to 
death  without  any  crime,  but  what  was  committed  in  his  own 
dark  imagination.     Moniraa  was  a  beloved  wife  of  Mithridates, 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  231 

the  great  king  of  Pontus,  and  yet,  when  lie  lost  a  battle  against 
the  Romans,  that  she  might  not  fall  into  other  hands  than  his 
own,  he  commanded  her  to  die;  and  the  only  favour  he  showed 
her,  was  to  give  her  the  choice  of  her  own  death.  Her  choice 
was,  to  strangle  herself  by  her  royal  tiara,  which  had  long  boon 
hateful  to  her.  But  even  in  this  she  was  disappointed,  and 
her  last,  or  nearly  her  last  words,  were,  *  Poor  bauble  !  canst 
thou  not  do  me  even  this  mournful  office?' 

Jesus  forbids  us  to  fear  them  that  have  power  only  to  kill 
the  body.  Still  less,  if  possible,  are  we  to  trust  them ;  for 
they  have  no  power  even  to  save  the  body.  God  is  to  be 
trusted  and  feared.  He  is  the  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save 
and  to  destroy ;  Psalm  cxlvi.  3-6. 

Verse  14. — For  if  thou  altogether  holdest  thy  peace  at  this  time, 
tlien  shall  there  enlargement  and  deliverance  arise  to  the  Jewsfroui 
another  place;  but  thou  and  thy  father^  s  house  shall  he  destroyed: 
and  who  knoiveth  whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such 
a  time  as  thisf 

What  evidence  had  Mordecai  to  go  upon,  in  alleging  that 
deliverance  and  enlargement  should  arise  from  some  one  place 
or  another  to  the  Jews  at  this  time?  He  had  as  good  evidence 
as  the  word,  and  even  the  oath  of  God,  could  give  him.  Tlie 
Lord  had  made  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  to  be  a  God  unto 
himself,  and  to  his  seed  after  him.  'This  covenant  he  ratified 
by  his  oath  unto  Isaac,  and  confirmed  the  same  unto  Jacob 
for  a  law,  and  to  Israel  for  an  everlasting  covenant.'  Ha- 
man's  malice,  and,  what  was  more  formidable  than  Haman's 
malice,  the  sins  of  God's  people,  could  not  make  void  the  prom- 
ise of  God,  nor  make  his  oath  and  his  covenant  of  none  eftcct. 
We  are  sVire,  even  in  this  age  of  the  world,  that  no  Haman 
will  ever  be  able  to  extirpate  the  natural  seed  of  Abraham : 
For  Hhe  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance.' 

There  were  many  prophecies  published  by  Isaiah,  by  Jere- 
miah, by  Ezekiel,  by  Daniel,  and  the  other  prophets,  concerning 
the  restoration  of  the  captive  Jews;  concerning  God's  care  of  them 
in  their  own  land,  or  in  their  dispersion;  and  concerning  that 
Saviour  who  was  to  'come  to  Zion,  to  turn  away  ungodliness 
from  Jacob.'     These  })rophecies  were,  doubtless,  well  known  to 


232  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VIII. 

Mordecai.     They  were  the  life  of  his  soul,  and  the  joy  of  his 
heart. 

The  Lord  had,  in  every  age,  been  ^  the  hope  of  Israel,  and 
the  Saviour  thereof  in  the  time  of  trouble.'  He  had  given 
enlargement  to  his  people  when  they  were  shut  up  between 
rocks  and  seas,  and  the  sword  of  an  enraged  enemy,  who  was 
much  too  strong  for  them ;  and  he  who  had  delivered  his  peo- 
ple from  so  great  deaths,  had  assured  them  that  he  would  still 
deliver  them :  '  The  Lord  said,  I  will  bring  again  my  people 
from  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  from  Bashan  hill.' 

The  hearts  of  the  unbelieving  Jews  would  sink  within  them 
in  their  present  perilous  condition ;  but  believers  in  the  word 
of  God  would  not  be  confounded.  They  knew  that  the  honour 
of  God  was  as  deeply  interested  in  the  event,  as  were  their  life 
and  welfare ;  and  that  he  who  had  so  often  wrought  for  his 
name's  sake,  would  still  work  for  his  people.  There  were 
many  and  strong  enemies ;  but  they  had  the  Almighty  God  for 
their  friend. 

Mordecai  was  one  of  those  believers  who,  in  the  days  of 
Israel's  distress,  ^remembered  the  years  (or  the  changes)  of  the 
right  hand  of  the  Most  HigJi ;'  and  in  the  words  before  us,  he 
expressed  his  full  assurance  that  God  would  frustrate  Haman's 
plot.  Blessed  are  they  that  trust  in  the  Lord !  God  '  will  keep 
them  in  perfect  peace,'  and  enable  them  in  the  darkest  days  to 
express  their  joyful  hope,  that  ^at  evening-time  it  shall  be  light.' 

But  why  did  Mordecai  mourn  so  bitterly,  if  he  was  assured 
that  deliverance  would  arise  from  some  place  to  the  Jews? 
Because  '  in  that  day  did  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  call  to  mourn- 
ing and  to  weeping.'  In  such  a  dark  day  the  people  of  God 
were  called  to  pour  out  their  hearts  like  water  before  the  face 
of  the  Lord,  for  their  life,  and  for  the  life  of  their  children. 
The  faith  of  God's  people  does  not  interfere  with  the  exercise 
of  affections  suited  to  mournful  dispensations  of  providence. 
Faith  encourages  us  to  come  before  God  with  tears  and  cry- 
ings,  because  it  assures  us  that  he  knows  all  our  distresses,  and 
puts  our  tears  into  his  bottle. 

Enlargement  and  deliverance  will  arise  to  the  Jews;  to  the 
Israel  of  God,  under  the  gospel,  as  well  as  under  the  law. 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK  OP   ESTHER.  233 

Amidst  all  the  distresses  of  the  church,  we  may  rest  assured 
that  she  cannot  perish.  Particular  churches  may  be  destroyed, 
but  the  church  universal  is  *  built  by  Christ  upon  a  rock,  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it/ 

If  Jews  according  to  the  flesh  were  blessed  with  the  assured 
hopes  of  deliverance  to  their  nation  in  every  danger,  however 
dreadful;  those  who  are  Jews  in  the  noblest  sense,  may  at  all 
times  expect  help  from  God.  ^He  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one 
outwardly,  but  who  is  one  inwardly:  neither  is  that  circum- 
cision which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  circumcision  is  that 
of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
God.'  If  its  praise  be  of  God,  he  will  be  its  almighty  pro- 
tector. He  may  ^sift  Israel  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve,'  but 
one  grain  shall  not  be  suffered  to  fall  upon  the  ground. 

If  thou  altogether  forbear  at  this  time,  enlargement  and  ddiver- 
ance  shall  rise  up  to  the  Jews  from  some  other  place. — Estlier, 
though  warmly  solicited  to  interpose  in  the  behalf  of  the  Jews, 
must  not  imagine  that  their  safety  depends  on  her.  If  she 
succeeds,  she  will  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  making  her 
the  honoured  instrument  of  their  deliverance;  and  the  Jews 
will  have  great  reason  to  bless  her,  and  to  bless  God  lor  her. 
But  she  will  have  no  reason  to  be  proud.  She  is  assured,  that 
whether  she  had  any  hand  in  their  deliverance  or  not,  their 
deliverance  was  sure.  It  by  no  means  depended  upon  her 
exertions;  for  if  she  had  never  been  born,  if  she  had  never 
been  a  queen,  or  if  she  had  been  a  base  apostate  to  the  religion 
of  the  court,  Israel  was  safe  under  the  j)rotection  of  the  God 
of  Israel.  The  safety  of  the  church  depends  not  on  her  best 
friends  on  earth ;  nor  can  her  deliverance  be  prevented,  either 
by  the  coldness  of  her  friends,  or  by  the  power  of  her  enemies. 
All,  therefore,  who  perform  eminent  services  to  the  church, 
ought  humbly  to  thank  the  Lord  for  chusing  to  employ  them 
rather  than  others;  for  He  is  never  at  a  loss  for  servants  to  do 
his  work.  The  life  of  Moses  might  have  been  thought  by  the 
Israelites  so  necessary  for  them  when  tliey  were  delivered  from 
Egypt,  that  they  could  have  little  hope,  without  him,  of  ob- 
taining possession  of  the  promised  land ;  and  yet  he  died  when 
they  were  come  to  the  borders  of  it.     But  God  could  put  a 


234  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  VIII. 

sufficient  portion  of  Moses'  spirit  in  Joshua  to  bring  his  peo- 
ple into  the  land  of  which  he  had  sworn  unto  them ;  and  when 
they  were  both  in  heaven,  he  could  raise  up  other  saviours  to 
his  people,  to  deliver  them  from  their  enemies. 

But  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall  be  destroyed. — Why? 
Because  Esther  neglected  to  do  what  she  ought  to  have  done 
for  the  salvation  of  Israel.  It  is  a  common,  and  not  a  false 
maxim.  That  sins  of  omission  are  less  heinous  than  sins  of 
commission.  But  let  us  not  mistake  the  maxim ;  the  mean- 
ing of  it  is,  that  sins  of  omission,  as  such,  are  not  so  atrocious 
as  sins  of  commission.  On  other  accounts,  they  may  be  criminal 
above  most  sins  that  you  can  name.  It  is  worse  to  do  what 
God  plainly  forbids,  than  to  neglect  the  doing  of  what  he  re- 
quires ;  because  (when  other  things  are  equal)  it  is  a  token  of 
a  more  rebellious  disposition,  to  be  active  in  doing  what  is 
sinful,  than,  through  negligence  and  inattention,  to  omit  a 
duty  required  from  us.  Yet,  if  you  saw  a  man  drowning  in 
the  water,  and  did  not  attempt  to  save  him  from  the  danger, 
would  not  your  sin  be  no  less  than  murder,  and  consequently 
worse  than  an  officious  lie,  or  even  than  an  instance  of  fraud  ? 
But  if  Esther  had  neglected  to  interpose  in  the  present  case, 
she  would  have  suffered  the  whole  nation  to  perish.  If  she 
did  not  so  interpose,  she  had  at  least  the  guilt  of  not  doing 
what  she  could  to  prevent  it,  and  thus  she  exposed  herself  and 
her  father's  house  to  destruction  from  the  anger  of  God. 

But  what  had  her  father's  house  to  do  with  her  sin  ?  Is  it 
not  said,  that  'the  son  shall  not  die  for  the  iniquity  of  the 
father,  nor  the  father  for  the  iniquity  of  the  son?'  This  is  a 
law  which  the  universal  Lord  has  prescribed  for  men,  and  not 
for  himself.  We  know  that  God  destroyed  even  whole  fami- 
lies for  the  sins  of  their  heads.  Only  we  must  remember,  that 
the  whole  world  is  guilty  before  God.  He  can,  without  injus- 
tice, destroy  a  whole  family  when  one  member  has  sinned,  and 
when  the  rest  had  no  participation  in  the  guilt,  because  guilt 
of  another  kind  can  be  justly  charged  upon  them.  The  pun- 
ishment is  therefore,  properly  speaking,  the  punishment  of 
the  single  offender  made  ten-fold  more  heavy,  by  involving 
with  him  so  many  dear  objects  of  his  regard.     His  relations 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  235 

were  chargeable  with  sins  which  exposed  them  to  death  when 
God  pleased  to  require  their  souls;  and  they  have  no  more 
reason  to  blame  the  righteousness  of  the  divine  procedure,  than 
the  debtor  has  to  find  fault  with  the  creditor  for  demanding 
the  money  due  to  him,  when  he  finds  occasion  to  use  it. 

If  thou  art  silent  at  this  time,  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall 
be  destroyed.— But  was  it  the  exclusive  duty  of  Esther  to  take 
this  business  upon  herself?  Where  was  that  law  to  be  found 
which  imposed  a  burden  upon  this  good  woman,  from  which 
all  the  rest  of  the  Jews  were  exempted?  Was  there  a  special 
commandment  given  to  her,  which  she  could  not  disobey  with- 
out exposing  heiself  and  all  her  father's  house  to  destruction? 
Esther  was  certainly  under  the  same  laws  which  bound  all  the 
rest  of  the  Jews,  and  under  none  else.  There  was  no  special 
precept  given  to  her,  like  that  which  was  addressed  by  Jesus 
to  the  young  man,  who  was  commanded  to  sell  all  that  he  had, 
and  give  to  the  poor.  Yet  Esther,  by  that  common  law,  had 
a  special  duty  enjoined  on  her.  All  were  bound  to  use  the 
means  competent  to  them  to  preserve  their  nation  from  de- 
struction. Petitioning  the  king  was  a  means  of  safety  neces- 
sary to  be  used,  and  the  providence  of  God  plainly  pointed 
out  Esther  as  the  petitioner  most  likely  to  succeed.  The  law 
of  God  is  the  only  rule  of  our  duty :  but  the  providence  of  God 
often  points  out  to  individual  persons,  duties  which  the  law 
requires  especially  from  themselves.  Those  things  may  be 
necessary  duties  at  one  time  which  are  not  duties  at  another ; 
or  to  one  person,  or  to  one  class  of  persons,  which  are  not  re- 
quired from  others:  and  the  neglect  of  those  duties  which  are 
required  from  us,  and  not  from  others,  or  of  those  duties  which 
are  rendered  so  only  by  a  particular  train  of  providences,  may 
involve  us  in  deep  guilt,  and  in  great  danger.  A  man  who 
knows  a  particular  remedy  for  a  certain  disease,  of  which  others 
are  ignorant,  would  be  chargeable  with  the  fatal  consequences 
that  may  arise  from  the  general  ignorance,  if  he  locks  up  his 
knowledjre  in  his  own  breast.  If  Providence  furnish  us  with 
talents  which  are  not  granted  to  others,  we  must  account  for 
our  use  of  them.  If  we  have  opportunities  of  doing  much 
good  which  others  have  not,  and  make  no  use  of  them,  we 


236  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VIII. 

make  burselves  guilty  of  a  crime  which  can  be  charged  upon 
none  but  ourselves.  The  law  is  the  same  to  all;  but  particu- 
lar circumstances  place  us  under  the  obligation  of  particular 
precepts,  which  take  no  hold  of  persons  in  different  situations. 

Aiid  icho  hnoweth  whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for 
such  a  time  as  this? — The  circumstances  which  led  Esther  to  a 
throne  were  wonderful,  either  in  themselves,  or  in  their  com- 
bination. The  daughter  of  Abihail  the  Jew,  was  astonished 
to  find  herself  the  wife  of  the  great  king  Ahasuerus ;  and  doubt- 
less must  have  thought,  that  the  providence  of  God,  which 
shone  so  wonderfully  in  her  exaltation,  had  some  design  in 
view,  of  which  she  was  hitherto  ignorant.  When  Joseph  was 
raised  to  be  lord  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  God  was  making 
provision  for  the  support  of  Jacob's  family.  When  Esther 
was  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  a  great  queen,  and  when  a  sen- 
tence of  death  had  gone  forth  against  her  whole  nation,  it  ap- 
peared highly  probable  to  Mordecai  that  God  designed  her  to 
be  the  preserver  of  her  people.  It  was,  therefore,  in  his  judg- 
ment, her  necessary  duty  to  make  the  attempt,  that  she  might 
not  be  backward  to  second  the  designs  of  Providence.  To  hide 
our  talent  in  a  napkin  is  criminal  and  dangerous. 

If  God  has  done  remarkable  things  for  us,  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  he  expects  some  services  from  us  suited  to  the 
situation  in  which  he  has  placed  us,  and  to  the  means  of  ser- 
vice with  which  he  has  furnished  us.  We  ought,  therefore, 
when  we  consider  what  God  hath  done  for  us,  to  consider  at 
the  same  time  what  he  requires  from  us.  If  our  circumstances 
are  peculiar,  it  is  likely  that  some  peculiar  services  are  re- 
quired; or  if  we  cannot  find  out  any  particular  service  to  be 
done  at  present,  let  us  wait  a  little,  and  we  may  find  calls  to 
services  suited  to  our  condition.  'The  Lord  hath  made  all 
things,'  and  he  still  does  all  things,  ^for  himself.' 

'  What  if  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as 
this?' — It  is  at  least  highly  probable.  But  the  duty  itself  is 
certain :  and  if  we  do  not  improve  particular  dispensations  of 
providence  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  intended,  we 
walk  contrary  to  God,  and  provoke  him  to  walk  contrary  to 
us.     '  Whoso  is  wise  to  observe  the  doings  of  the  Lord,  even 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF   ESTUER.  237 

he  shall  understand  his  loving-kindness.'  But  when  men  do 
not  know  their  times  and  opportunities,  their  misery  is  great 
upon  them. 

Verses  15,  16. — Then  Esther  bade  thein  return  Mordecai  this 
aiiswer:  Go,  gather  together  all  the  Jexcs  that  are  present  in  Shu- 
shan,  and  fast  ye  for  «ie,  and  neither  eat  nor  drink  for  three  days, 
night  or  day:  I  also  and  my  maidens  mil  fast  likewise:  and  so 
will  I  go  in  unto  the  king,  which  is  not  according  to  the  law : 
and  if  I  j)ei'ishy  I  perish. 

Esther  highly  respected  Mordecai;  and  she  respected  him 
not  the  less,  but  the  more,  because  he  continued  to  use  the 
freedom  of  a  father  with  her.  She  doubtless  thought  herself 
blessed  in  a  friend  who  took  the  liberty  to  remonstrate  with 
her  concerning  duties  which  she  felt  an  aversion  to  perform. 
He  that  rebukes  and  admonishes,  will  be  fur  more  valued  by 
us,  if  we  are  wise,  than  he  that  flatters  with  his  lips. 

Esther  never  intended  to  decline  the  perilous  service  re- 
commended by  Mordecai,  when  she  should  find  it  to  be  a  ne- 
cessary duty.  Being  now  convinced  that  it  was,  she  promises 
to  go  in  to  the  king,  let  the  consequence  be  what  it  would. 
But,  as  her  hope  of  success  was  in  God,  she  requires  all  the 
Jews  in  Shushan  to  fast  for  her  three  days.  The  Jews  in  other 
places  would  have  been  required  to  give  her  the  same  help,  if 
it  had  been  practicable  to  give  them  seasonable  information  of 
her  wishes  and  intentions.  Paul  frequently  seeks  the  help  of 
the  prayers  of  the  church.  Esther  seeks  the  help,  not  only  of 
the  prayers  of  the  Jews,  but  of  all  the  devotional  exercises  of 
a  solemn  fast  of  three  days  continuance.  The  situation  of  the 
Jews  was  critical  .and  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  Esther's 
hopes  from  her  influence  with  the  king  were  faint.  If  God 
did  not  pity  his  people,  they  were  undone.  Never  did  God 
more  loudly  call  for  fasting  than  at  this  time  ;  and  a  single  day 
observed  in  fasting,  was  thought  by  her  too  little  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  exercise.  Perhaps  she  called  in  mind  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Ninevites,  and  the  happy  success  of  their  devo- 
tion. They  observed  a  strict  fast  of  three  days,  and  cried 
mightily  to  God,  and  turned  from  their  wickedness;  and/ the 
Lord  repented  of  the  evil  which  he  thought  to  do  unto  them, 


238  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VIII. 

and  did  it  not.'  Esther  would  justly  think  that  the  Lord,  who 
showed  such  favour  to  an  Assyrian  city,  infamous  for  its  former 
wickedness,  would  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  his  own  people  in  the 
day  of  their  distress. 

It  would  be  folly  to  think  that  Esther  placed  the  least  de- 
pendence upon  mere  abstinence  from  food,  when  she  required 
the  Jews  to  fast.  All  her  expectations  of  advantage  from  this 
fast  were  founded  upon  God,  who  had  instituted  this  duty,  and 
promised  happy  consequences  to  it,  when  it  was  observed  ac- 
cording to  his  will.  We  have,  therefore,  no  reason  to  say  that 
the  name  of  God  is  not  to  be  found  in  this  book,  which  speaks 
of  his  worship  (a  part  of  his  name).  The  name  God,  or  Lord, 
is  not  in  it.  But  who  does  not  know,  that  the  exercise  of 
fasting  here  enjoined  by  Esther,  is  a  part  of  His  service,  and  that 
no  advantage  can  be  expected  from  it  but  through  divine 
mercy  accepting  this  service,  and  hearing  the  supplications  of 
his  people?  Esther,  indeed,  does  not  speak  of  the  prayers,  of 
the  self-examination,  of  the  confessions,  of  the  reformation, 
that  were  to  accompany  this  abstinence  from  food.  The  exer- 
cises proper  to  a  day  of  fasting  were  already  known  to  the 
Jews ;  or  they  would  learn  them  from  the  history  of  Jonah, 
to  which  the  similarity  of  the  present  danger  of  the  Jews  with 
that  of  the  Ninevites  would  lead  their  minds ;  or  if  they  needed 
any  further  information  on  the  subject,  Esther  believed  that 
Mordecai  was  better  qualified  than  herself  to  give  them  pro- 
per directions.  She  insists,  however,  upon  one  thing,  that 
they  should  neither  eat  nor  drink  three  days,  day  or  night; 
but  observe  the  fast  with  strictness,  like  persons  so  deeply 
concerned  in  the  business,  thaij  they  would  deny  the  strongest 
cravings  of  nature,  and  bear  the  extremes  of  hunger  and  thirst, 
that  they  might  express  the  deepest  humiliation  of  spirit  be- 
fore God,  and  pour  forth  their  hearts  before  him.  There  arc 
too  many  amongst  us  who  would  think  it  an  intolerable  hard- 
skip  to  be  deprived  of  their  food  for  a  single  day,  or  for  half 
of  a  day,  when  they  have  the  loudest  calls  to  solemn  fasting. 
How  would  such  persons  have  acted  in  the  time  of  Esther's 
fast?  Would  not  the  remedy  have  appeared  to  them  almost 
as  bad  as  the  disease  ?     Was  it  not  as  good  to  die  by  the  swon] 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  239 

of  their  enemies,  as  to  starve  themselves  to  death?  Yet  we 
do  not  find  that  any  of  the  Jews  in  Shushan  refused  to  com- 
ply with  Esther^s  desire.  The  fear  of  death  before  their  eyes, 
made  their  ordinary  food  a  matter  of  indifference  to  them. 
What  though  they  should  deny  themselves  the  ordinary  com- 
forts of  life  for  three  days,  when  their  object  was  to  obtain  a 
reversal  of  a  sentence  of  death  given  forth  against  them? 

A7e  are  not,  however,  to  understand  the  words  so  strictly 
as  to  make  them  a  prohibition  of  all  sorts  of  food  for  three 
days,  even  to  those  men,  women,  or  children,  whose  bodies 
could  not  sustain  such  a  long  fast.  Doubtless  there  were  some 
among  them  who,  through  sickness  or  weakness,  could  as  little 
bear  a  complete  privation  of  food  for  three  whole  days  and 
nights,  as  that  Egyptian  slave  whom  David  relieved  from 
mortal  weakness,  contracted  by  a  fast  of  three  days,  when  he 
was  marching  against  the  Amalekites  that  had  burnt  Ziklag. 
Esther  did  not  think  that  it  was  any  man^s  duty  to  destroy 
his  body  by  a  voluntary  fast.  She  knew  that  God  would  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice.  Her  desire  was  not  to  destroy,  but 
to  save  the  lives  of  her  people.  Her  words  may  be  reasonably 
understood  to  mean,  that  the  Jews  were  not  to  take  any  regu- 
lar meal,  nor  any  other  supplies  of  food,  but  such  as  might  be 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  health  and  vigour.  Perfect 
abstinence  for  three  days  and  three  nights  would  have  been  in- 
imical, rather  than  favourable,  to  the  great  purpose  of  the 
fast.  Paul  said  to  the  mariners  that  sailed  with  him  to  Rome, 
'This  day  is  the  fourteenth  day  that  ye  have  tarried,  and  con- 
tinued fasting,  having  taken  nothing.'  Surely  they  did  not 
want  food  during  two  complete  weeks;  yet  they  are  said  to 
have  continued  fasting,  and  taken  nothing,  because,  amidst 
the  agitation  of  fear  and  hope,  they  were  incapable  of  taking 
any  regular  meal. 

Fast  ye  for  me,  and  neither^  eat  nor  drink  for  three  days.-- 
They  were  not  called  with  Esther  to  go  in  unto  the  king.  A 
service  attended  with  no  danger  was  required  from  them.  But 
what  they  can  do,  and  are  called  to  do,  they  must  do  as  con- 
scientiously as  Esther.  There  are  many  great  works  which 
are  beyond  our  strength,  or  out  of  the  line  of  our  calling ;  and 


240  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VIII. 

yet  we  may  and  ought  to  take  a  part  in  them,  by  strengthening 
the  hands  of  those  who  are  called  to  undertake  them.  Paul 
had  many  helpers  in  his  work  of  the  gospel,  even  among  those 
who  could  not,  or  to  whom  it  would  not  have  been  allowed  to, 
speak  in  the  church.  We  all  ought  to  be  fellow-helpers  to  the 
truth.  AVhile  many  go  abroad  to  spread  the  gospel  amongst 
heathens,  we  find  it  our  duty  to  continue  in  the  land  of  our 
nativity;  but,  without  removing  from  it,  we  may  promote  the 
work  in  which  they  are  employed,  by  our  contributions,  or  at 
least  by  our  prayers. 

There  are  some  who  beg  the  prayers  of  others,  and  yet  pray 
little  for  themselves.  Esther,  who  requested  the  Jews  to  fast 
for  her,  told  them  that  she  also  would  fast,  and  would  abstain 
as  strictly  from  food  as  she  desired  them  to  do.  She  had  been 
accustomed  to  a  well-furnished  table ;  but  she  was  not  there- 
by disqualified  from  afflicting  her  soul  by  fasting  when  she 
saw  it  to  be  her  duty.  She,  no  doubt,  observed  the  annual 
fasts  prescribed  to  the  Jews ;  and  she  determined  to  observe 
this  extraordinary  fast  which  she  herself  prescribed.  She 
hoped  to  obtain  mercy  from  the  Lord,  that  she  might  escape 
death  by  the  laws  of  Persia,  and  might  be  the  instrument  of 
the  salvation  of  her  people.  But  if  she  miscarried,  her  fasting 
and  prayer  would  be  proper  acts  of  preparation  for  her  latter 
end. 

I  and  my  maids  will  fast, — Some,  it  is  probable,  of  Esther's 
maids,  were  heathens  when  they  came  into  her  service;  Chap, 
ii.  9.  Yet  we  find  her  promising  that  they  would  fast.  She 
can  answer  for  them,  as  Joshua  for  his  household,  that  they 
would  serve  the  Lord.  If  mistresses  were  as  zealous  as  queen 
Esther  for  the  honour  of  God,  and  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
they  would  bestow  pains  upon  the  instruction  and  religious 
improvement  of  their  female  servants.  If  women  may  gain 
to  Christ  their  own  husbands  by  their  good  conversation,  may 
they  not  also  gain  the  souls  of  their  servants?  and  if  they  are 
gained  to  Christ,  they  are  gained  to  themselves  also.  Esther 
expected  much  benefit  from  the  devotional  exercises  of  her 
maidens.  Paul  expected  much  from  the  prayers  of  his  con- 
verts.    Those  whom  we  convert  from  the  error  of  their  ways, 


CHAP.  lY.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  241 

will  probably  be  our  joy  and  helpers  upon  earth;  thoy  will 
certainly  be  our  joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  Christ. 

^I  and  my  maids  will  fast.^ — Esther  could  not  join  in  the 
public  prayers  of  the  Jews,  when  they  met  together  out  of 
many  families  to  strive  together  in  their  prayers  to  God.  r>ut 
she  will  fast  at  home,  not  only  by  herself,  but  with  her  maidens. 
There  are  public  fasts  in  which  all  are  expected  to  join.  There 
ought  likewise  to  be  secret  and  family  fasts  observed  by  us, 
according  to  the  calls  of  providence,  and  the  situation  of  our 
affairs,  or  the  condition  of  our  souls;  Matt.  vi.  16-18. 

A7id  then  ivill  I  go  in  unto  the  Icinf/,  ivhich  is  not  according  to 
the  law. — She  would  not  go  in  unto  the  king,  till  she  made  her 
supplication  to  the  Lord,  and  till  the  Jews  had  given  her  the 
assistance  of  their  prayers.  She  was  sensible,  that  though  ^all 
men  will  intreat  the  ruler's  favour,  every  man's  judgment 
comes  from  the  Lord ;'  and  that  the  hearts  of  kings  are  turned 
by  him  according  to  his  pleasure.  What,  therefore,  she  de- 
sires in  the  first  place  is,  that  she  may  obtain  comfortable  as- 
surance of  the  divine  favour.  If  the  Lord  be  on  her  side,  she 
is  safe.  If  the  Lord  favour  her  suit,  she  need  not  fear  the 
coldness  of  Ahasuerus,  or  the  mortal  enmity  of  Haman.  '  The 
floods  may  rage.  They  may  lift  u^  their  voices  and  make  a 
mighty  noise:  but  the  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the  waves 
of  the  sea,  or  the  voice  of  their  roaring. 

But  when  the  fast  is  over,  she  will  go  in  unto  the  king.  She 
will  not  think  that  her  duty  is  done,  when  she  has  prayed  and 
fasted.  She  will  seek,  by  the  use  of  proper  means,  to  obtain 
that  blessing  which  she  has  been  asking.  The  insincerity  of 
our  prayers  is  too  often  discovered  by  our  sloth  and  cowardice. 
We  ask  blessings  from  God,  and,  as  if  he  were  bound  to  con- 
fer them,  not  according  to  his  own  w^ill,  but  according  to  ours, 
we  take  no  care  to  use  those  means  which  he  hath  appointed 
for  obtaining  them,  or  we  do  not  use  them  with  requisite  dili- 
gence. Esther  will  go  in  unto  the  king,  although  she  could 
not  go  in  without  violating  the  laws,  and  risking  her  life. 

'I  will  go  in  unto  the  king,  which  is  not  according  to  the 
law.' — Who  will  keep  the  king's  laws,  if  the  queen  herself 
does  not  observe  them?     Did  not  Esther  know  that  Vashti 
16 


242  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  VIII. 

lost  her  crown,  and  her  husband,  for  disobeying  the  king  in  a 
matter  of  less  consequence  than  a  standing  law  deliberately 
enacted  by  the  king's  authority?  True;  but  necessity  has  no 
law.  She  will  keep  the  king's  laws  as  far  as  she  can  keep  them 
and  the  laws  of  God  at  the  same  time.  But  in  the  present 
case,  she  must  be  a  betrayer  of  her  country,  of  her  own  life,  of 
the  laws  of  Heaven,  if  she  hesitate  any  longer  to  go  in  unto 
the  king,  although  it  be  not  according  to  the  law.  We  must 
obey  princes,  ^not  only  for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience  sake.' 
But,  for  conscience  sake,  we  must  stop  short  where  the  law  of 
God  interposes;  Acts  iv.  19. 

Esther  may  lose  her  royal  dignity.  She  may  be  expelled 
from  the  king's  bed.  She  may  lose  her  life  for  disobeying  the 
laws.  But  'if  I  perish,'  she  says,  ^I  perish.'  It  is  not  neces- 
sary for  me  to  live,  but  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  do  my  duty. 
If  I  perish  in  obeying  the  will  of  God,  it  is  better  than  to  live 
in  disobedience. 

If  I  jperishy  I  perish. — Our  lives  are  not  our  own ;  they  can- 
not, be  long  preserved  by  us.  They  will  be  of  little  value  to 
us  without  a  good  conscience.  That  life  which  is  purchased 
by  neglect  of  duty,  is  shameful,  bitter,  worse  than  death.  Who- 
ever shall  save  his  life  in  this  mariner,  shall  lose  it  in  this 
world,  as  well  as  in  the  next.  His  life  will  be  but  a  lingering 
death:  for  the  dissatisfaction  and  painful  reflections  which  fill 
it  up  are  far  less  tolerable  than  the  bodily  pain  which  usually 
precedes  death.  But  to  lose  life  for  the  sake  of  Christ  and  a 
good  conscience,  is  truly  to  live.  A  day  of  life  employed  in 
the  most  hazardous  duties,  by  -which  we  show  that  our  love  to 
God  is  stronger  than  death,  excels  a  thousand  days  of  a  life 
spent  in  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  the  world. 

Verse  17. — 8o  Moi^decai  went  his  ivay  and  did  according  to 
all  that  Esther  had  commanded  him. 

Mordecai  commanded  Esther,  and  she  obeyed  him,  Esther 
commanded  Mordecai,  and  he  obeyed  her.  They  served  one 
another  in  love.  It  would  be  happy  for  us  if  we  knew  how 
to  command  and  how  to  obey  in  our  turns,  being  *  subject  one 
to  another,'  in  the  fear  of  God. 

Mordecai  required  the  Jews  to  fast  three  days  according  to 


CHAP.  IV.  12-17.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  243 

Esther's  orders;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  of  their  ready 
and  grateful  compliance.  They  would  not  think  it  hard,  but 
necessary  and  useful,  to  be  called  to  afflict  their  souls  to  an 
extraordinary  degree,  when  their  lives  and  the  lives  of  all  their 
people  were  in  question.  And  yet  the  present  life  of  all  the 
many  thousands  of  Judah  was  not  of  equal  importance  to  the 
eternal  life  of  one  precious  soul.  What,  then,  are  we  to  think 
of  ourselves,  if  the  sentence  of  eternal  death  denounced  against 
every  sinner,  has  never  induced  us  to  devote  as  many  hours 
to  fervent  prayer,  as  these  Jews  employed  days  in  prayers  and 
fasting  to  obtain  deliverance  from  temporal  death?  Is  it  not 
to  be  feared,  that  we  do  not  really  believe  what  the  Scripture 
tells  us  about  that  judgment  which  is  come  upon  all  men  to 
condemnation,  if  we  thing  it  too  much  trouble  to  spend  some 
hours  or  days  in  considering  our  condition,  and  pouring  out 
supplications  for  that  mercy  which  we  so  greatly  need?  The 
Jews  fasted.  Esther  went  in  to  the  king,  uncertain  about  the 
event,  but  pressed  by  hard  necessity.  Necessity  is  laid  upon 
sinners,  yea,  woe  unto  them  if  they  do  not  obtain  mercy!  But 
great  encouragement  is  given  them  to-  come  to  the  throne  of 
grace  to  obtain  mercy.  God  himself  puts  words  in  their  months, 
and  will  He  not  hear  those  prayers  which  are  dictated  by  his 
own  Spirit?     Hos.  xiv.  2-4:  Jer.  xxxi.  18-20. 


244  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IX. 


DISCOURSE  IX. 


ESTHER  GOES  IN  UNTO  THE  KING,   AND  FINDS  FAVOUR    IN  HIS  EYES 

— HAMAN,   INFLAMED  BY  REVENGE,   PREPARES  A    GALLOWS  FOR 

MORDECAI  OF  FIFTY  CUBITS  HIGH. 

CHAPTER  V.  1-14. 

Verse  1 . — Now  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  that  Esthei- 
jmt  on  her  royal  apparel,  and  stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the  hinges 
house,  over  against  the  king^s  house;  and  the  king  sat  upon  his 
royal  throne  in  the  royal  house,  over  against  the  gate  of  the  house. 

Esther  was  not  oae  of  those  who  resolve  and  promise  well, 
but  do  not  perform.  How  ready  are  we,  like  the  disobedient 
son  in  the  parable,  to  say,  We  will  go  and  work  in  the  vine- 
yard, and  after  all  go  not!  But  whgi?t  excuse  will  we  have  for 
breaking  our  promises  through  the  mere  power  of  laziness, 
when  Esther  kept  her  word  at  the  risk  of  her  life?  She  de- 
serves to  be  ranked  with  the  noble  army  of  confessors,  if  not 
of  martyrs.  She  went  in  unto  the  king  when  a  law  faced  her 
which  declared  it  to  be  death  for  any  subject,  not  excepting 
the  queen,  to  go  in  unto  the  king's  private  apartments  without 
his  leave. 

Nor  did  she  linger  in  doubt  whether  she  should  go  in  unto 
the  king  or  not.  If  she  had,  new  temptations,  dangerous  to 
her  virtue,  might  have  assaulted  her.  Her  resolution  had  been 
already  formed;  and  she  makes  haste,  and  delays  not  to  do  the 
commandment  of  Mordecai,  which  she  considers  as  a  command- 
ment from  God.  On  the  third  day,  she  went  in  unto  the  king. 
Her  fast  did  not,  it  seems,  consist  of  three  complete  days  and 
nights.  In  the  language  of  the  Jews,  'three  days  and  three 
nights'  might  mean  one  whole  day  and  a  part  of  two  others. 


CHAP.  V.  1-14.]  BOOK    OF   ESTHER.  245 

Jesus  is  said  to  have  been  'three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth/ and  yet  lie  is  said  to  have  risen  ^)n  tlie 
third  day.' 

She  observed  her  fast,  and  it  was  no  sooner  over  tlian  slie 
went  in  unto  tlie  king.  It  was  wise  in  her,  when  she  had  fin- 
ished her  supplications,  to  present  her  petition  to  the  king. 
When  Hannah  prayed  in  the  bitterness  of  her  grief,  her  heart 
was  eased;  she  was  no  more  sorrowful.  We  have  reason  to 
think  that  Esther's  anxieties,  too,  were  banished  by  her  devo- 
tion. She  had  been  lifting  up  her  soul  to  the  Lord.  She  had 
been,  doubtless,  'remembering  her  song  in  the  night,'  and  'the 
wonderful  works  of  former  times'  would  inspire  her  with  the 
hope  of  a  happy  event  to  her  present  enterprise.  Thus  she 
was  able  to  approach  unto  the  king  with  all  that  composure 
of  mind,  and  cheerfulnesy  of  countenance,  which  were  necessary 
for  the  occasion. 

She  put  on  her  royal  apparel  when  she  went  in  to  the  king. 
She  cared  not  for  the  distinction  of  her  rank,  and  placed  not 
her  delight  in  the  outward  adorning  of  gold  and  pearls  and 
costly  array.  But  it  was  necessary  to  lay  aside  her  mourning 
apparel,  and  to  put  on  her  beautiful  garments,  when  she  went 
in  to  the  king.  Good  wives  will  endeavour  to  please  their 
husbands  by  a  decency  in  dress,  as  well  as  other  things  that 
may  appear  little  when  they  are  not  considered  as  means  to 
gain  an  important  end.  'The  married  woman  careth,'  and 
ought  to  care,  'how  she  may  please  her  husband';  and  those 
women  do  not  act  as  becometh  saints,  whose  dress,  or  any  part 
of  their  behaviour,  naturally  tends  to  produce  disgust.  Estlier 
had  a  peculiar  reason  for  dressing  herself  with  her  beautiful 
garments,  when  she  went  into  the  king's  presence.  But  all 
women  are  bound  to  please  their  husbands  in  things  lawful 
and  innocent,  because  the  law  of  Christ  binds  them  to  rever- 
ence their  husbands:  and  their  husbands,  if  they  are  not  fools, 
will  not  desire  them  to  transgress  the  laws  concerning  dress, 
which  two  apostles  have  thought  it  necessary  to  record  lor 
their  direction;  1  Tim.  ii.  9;  1  Peter  iii.  3-6. 

She  stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the  hinges  home,  over  against  the 
king's  house;  that  is,  over  against  the  king's  private  apartment 


246  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IX. 

iu  the  palace.  The  word  rendered  house,  may  signify  either 
a  large  pile  of  building,  or  particular  apartments  in  it.  In 
the  first  of  these  senses  it  is  to  be  understood,  when  it  is  said 
^she  stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the  king's  house'  or  palace. 
In  the  second,  when  it  is  said  that  she  stood  ^over  against  the 
king's  house.'  She  stood  within  his  view  as  he  sat  upon  his 
royal  throne,  waiting  for  the  intimation  of  his  will,  either  to 
leave  her  to  the  penalty  of  the  laws,  or  to  save  her  alive.  We 
have  already  seen  that  Esther  was  a  courageous  woman.  She 
would  venture  her  life  for  the  salvation  of  her  people.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  she  felt  great  agitation  of  spirit  in 
this  critical  moment,  when  the  sentence  of  life  or  death  was  in 
effect  to  be  pronounced  upon  her.  Her  busy  imagination 
would  call  up  her  fears,  by  setting- in  her  view  the  cruel  law, 
the  coldness  of  the  king,  the  severity  exercised  upon  Vashti. 
But,  in  the  multitude  of  her  thoughts  within  her,  it  is  to  be 
presumed,  that  God's  comforts  delighted  her  soul. 

Verse  2. — And  it  was  so,  when  the  king  saw  Esther  the  queen 
standing  in  the  court,  that  she  obtained  favour  in  his  sight;  and 
the  king  held  out  to  Esther  the  golden  sceptre  that  was  in  his  hand. 
So  Esther  drew  near,  and  touched  the  top  oj  the  sceptre. 

The  countenance  of  Esther  at  this  critical  moment  was  highly 
interesting  to  the  king  her  husband.  Grief,  anxiety,  and  pity, 
])ainted  in  her  beauteous  face,  awakened  his  pity,  and  attracted 
his  love.  She  found  favour  in  his  eyes,  and  he  held  out  to 
her  the  golden  sceptre,  the  sign  of  grace  and  pardon ;  which 
Esther  touched,  in  thankful  acceptance  of  the  offered  mercy. 

'  As  a  prince,'  said  God  to  Jacob,  ^  hast  thou  power  with 
God;  and  with  men  also  shalt  thou  prevail.'  Esther  had  been 
weeping  and  making  supplication,  like  her  father  Jacob,  and 
had  prevailed,  and  saw  the  face  of  the  king  as  if  it  had  been 
the  face  of  God,  and  her  life  was  preserved;  and,  what  was 
still  better,  she  had  the  happy  presage  of  the  preservation  of 
the  life  of  all  her  people,  in  that  favour  which  was  extended 
to  herself.  What  wonderful  favours  from  men  may  fervent 
supplication  to  God  obtain!  ^If  He  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us?' 

Verse  3. — Tfi^n  said  the  king  unto  her.  What  wilt  thou,  queen 


CHAP.  V.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  247 

Esther  f  and  what  is  thy  request?  it  shall  be  even  given  thee,  to 
the  half  of  the  kingdom. 

The  heart  of  the  king,  if  it  was  formerly  alienated  from  Esther 
was  now  most  effectually  turned  to  favour  her.  He  not  only 
held  out  to  her  the  golden  sceptre,  but  addressed  her  with  ex- 
pressions of  the  tendercst  love,  and  of  the  richest  bounty.  She 
may  now  confidently  seek  from  him  the  life  of  all  her  people ; 
for  she  was  assured  that  she  should  receive  the  richest  boon 
which  discretion  could  suffer  her  to  ask. 

Our  Lord  teaches  us  to  draw  a  comfortable  instruction  from 
the  bounty  of  parents  to  their  children:  *If  even  ye,  being 
evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  good  things  to 
them  that  ask  him?'  May  we  not  with  equal  assurance  draw 
the  same  instruction  from  the  kindness  of  Ahasuerus  to  his 
queen?  A  man  who  could  wantonly  devote  a  whole  nation 
to  destruction,  and  a  nation  to  which  his  queen  belonged,  for 
aught  he  knew,  will  nevertheless  give  her  what  she  j^leases  to 
ask,  when  she  comes  to  him  as  a  humble  petitioner,  although 
her  coming  to  him  was  not  according  to  the  law.  When  we 
come  to  the  throne  of  the  eternal  King,  we  have  the  law  of 
grace  on  our  side.  ^Come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace — 
Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive.'  The  King  whom  Ave  approach  is 
'rich  in  mercy  to  all  that  call  upon  Him.'  He  will  not  with- 
hold from  us  the  desire  of  our  lips.  He  will  ^do  for  us  above 
what  we  can  ask  or  think.'  We  have  perhaps  come  into  his 
presence  under  discouraging  apprehensions  of  his  displciisure, 
but  ^He  will  not  contend  for  ever,  neither  will  he  be  always 
wroth — He  hath  heard  the  desire  of  the  humble — Thou  wilt 
prepare  their  heart,  thou  wilt  cause  thine  ear  to  hear.' 

Verse  4. — And  Esther  answered j  If  it  seem  good  unto  the  king, 
let  the  king  and  Haman  come  this  day  unto  the  banquet  timt  I 
have  prepared  for  him, 

Esther  had  surely  a  good  opportunity  to  present  her  request 
to  the  king,  when  he  was  so  well  disposed  to  grant  it.  But 
the  importance  of  it  was  far  more  than  life.  Her  timidity  was 
not  entirely  removed  by  all  the  kind  words  which  the  king 
had  spoken.     He  might  take  it  kindly  to  find  a  rich  banquet 


248  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IX. 

prepared  for  him  by  Esther.  She  hoped  that  his  heart  would 
be  wanned  with  friendship,  and  inspired  with  generous  and 
pleasing  sentiments,  by  a  banquet  to  his  taste;  and  she  wished 
for  some  more  time  of  recollection,  preparation,  and  prayer,  be- 
fore she  made  known  her  great  request  to  the  king.  All,  there- 
fore, that  she  requests  at  present  is,  that  the  king  and  Haman 
might  come  to  the  feast  which  she  had  prepared  for  their  enter- 
tainment. 

A  feast  is,  especially  in  the  eastern  countries,  a  seal  of  friend- 
ship ;  and,  therefore,  it  may  appear  strange  that  Haman  was 
invited  along  with  the  king,  although  Esther  had  it  in  view 
to  present  a  petition  to  the  king  against  him.  But  necessity 
was  laid  upon  her,  if  she  invited  the  king,  to  invite  Haman 
also,  who  was  as  inseparable  from  him  at  this  time  as  his  right 
hand.  The  fault  was  in  the  king,  and  not  in  Esther,  if  any 
wrong  was  done  him  by  cherishing  those  proud  imaginations 
that  were  soon  to  be  humbled  to  the  dust.  She  was  not  in  a 
situation  to  act  with  the  delicacy  of  Saladin,  sultan  of  Egypt, 
who  gave  a  draught  of  refreshing  liquor  to  his  thirsty  captive, 
Guy,  king  of  Jerusalem;  but  when  the  king  handed  the  cup 
to  his  companion  in  bonds,  Arnold,  lord  of  Brescia,  the  sultan 
desired  him  to  observe,  that  it  was  not  he,  but  the  king  of 
Jerusalem,  that  gave  him  the  cup.  The  reason  of  this  be- 
haviour was,  that  Saladin  had  justly  doomed  Arnold  to  death 
for  barbarities  treacherously  perpetrated  by  him  against  his 
jjeople.  No  man,  however,  can  say  that  Esther  dealt  unfairly 
with  Haman.  His  presence  was  expedient  at  the  presenting 
of  the  petition,  that  there  might  be  no  pretense  to  complain 
of  injury.  He  was  to  be  charged  with  the  worst  of  crimes, 
and  there  was  nothing  unfair  in  giving  him  an  opportunity, 
by  being  present,  to  exculpate  himself,  if  that  had  been  possible. 

Verse  5. — Then  the  king  said,  Cause  Haman  to  make  haste 
iliat  he  may  do  as  Esther  hath  said.  So  the  king  and  Haman 
came  to  the  banquet  that  Esther  had  prepared. 

The  king  was  not  digpleased  at  the  timidity  of  Esther,  but 
considered  it  as  a  mark  of  the  profound  reverence  which  she 
entertained  for  him.  He  was  pleased  with  the  respect  showed 
to  him  in  inviting  him,  with  his  friend  Haman,  to  a  banquet. 


CHAP.  V.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  240 

He  knew  that  Haman  would  reckon  himself  lilghly  konourcMl 
by  the  invitation,  and  sent  for  him  to  come  in  all  haste  to  share 
in  the  entertainment.  Thus  far  things  went  well  with  Esther. 
She  was  assured  of  the  king's  kindness,  and  furnished  with  an 
opportunity  of  ingratiating  herself  still  more  with  the  man  to 
whom,  under  God,  she  must  look  for  the  life  of  her  people. 

Verse  6. — And  the  king  said  unto  Edliefi^  at  the  banquet  of 
wine,  What  is  thy  petition  f  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee:  and 
what  is  thy  request?  even  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom  it  shall  be 
performed. 

We  find,  in  the  second  chapter,  that  the  beauty  and  modesty 
of  Esther  gained  the  hearts  of  all  who  saw  her.  Doubtless, 
when  the  king,  at  the  banquet  of  wine,  had  an  opportunity  of 
conversing  with  Esther,  and  of  observing  those  lovely  graces 
that  appeared  in  every  part  of  her  behaviour,  his  love  was  in- 
flamed, and  he  thought  he  could  not  give  her  too  great  proofs 
of  his  kindness.  The  pleasure  he  enjoyed  in  the  entertainment, 
and  in  the  society  of  those  whom  he  most  loved,  opened  his 
heart  to  liberality;  and  he  again  desires  Esther  to  present  her 
request  before  him,  with  the  repeated  assurance  that  it  should 
be  granted  her  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom.  The  fears  of  Es- 
ther, however,  seem  not  yet  to  have  been  altogether  extin- 
guished, although  hope  predominated. 

Verses  7,  8. — Then  answered  Esther,  and  said,  My  petition 
and  my  request  is;  if  I  have  found  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  king, 
and  if  it  please  the  king  to  grant  my  petition,  and  to  jKrform  my 
request,  let  the  king  and  Haman  come  to  the  banquet  that  I  shall 
prepare  for  them,  and  I  will  do  to-morrow  as  the  king  hath  said. 

It  was  a  great  favour  that  she  had  already  received,  that 
the  king  honoured  her  banquet  with  his  presence,  and  all  that 
she  will  venture  to  ask  more  at  this  time  is,  that  this  favour 
may  be  repeated.  But  the  great  object  of  her  desire  for  which 
she  entered  into  the  king's  presence,  she  dares  not  yet  to  pro- 
duce. She  lays  herself,  howeter,  under  an  obligation  to  van- 
quish her  fears,  and  to  acquaint  the  king  with  her  wishes,  if 
he  will  favour  her  with  his  presence  to-morrow.  The  king 
would  not  take  it  amiss  that  Esther  discovered  sucli  timidity 
in  his  presence.     He  loved  her,  and  wished  to  be  loved  by  her  ; 


250  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IX. 

but  he  wished  likewise  to  be  feared  with  are  verence  greater, 
perhaps,  than  is  due  to  mortals. 

But,  could  Esther  have  a  better  opportunity  than  the  present 
to  present  her  chief  request  to  the  king?  She  could  not,  per- 
haps, prudently  publish  it  in  the  king's  apartments,  where 
some  of  the  princes  might  be  present,  who  would  be  ready  to 
declaim  against  the  request,  as  a  petition  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  fundamental  laws  of  the  empire.  Here  none  but  the  king 
and  Haman  were  to  be  present,  and  Haman  must  be  her  enemy 
whenever  the  petition  is  presented.  The  king  was  now  in  the 
best  humour  imaginable,  and  nothing  but  courage  in  Esther 
seemed  to  be  wanting  to  complete  the  business. 

It  is  to  be  considered,  however,  that  there  was  no  occasion 
for  great  haste  in  the  business,  because  more  than  ten  months 
still  remained  of  the  time  set  for  the  destruction  of  the  Jews; 
and  if  the  queen  had  gained  much  this  day  upon  the  king's 
affection,  she  might  gain  still  more  by  the  entertainment  and 
converse  of  the  next.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  there  were 
difficulties  almost  insurmountable  in  the  way  of  granting  her 
request.  It  might  seem  to  demand  the  overthrow  of  a  funda- 
mental law  of  the  kingdom,  that  laws  ratified  by  the  king's 
authority,  and  sealed  with  his  seal,  should  not  be  altered.  It 
might  even  have  been  supposed,  that  the  king's  right  to  the 
throne  was  exposed  to  question,  if  he  should  attempt  uncon- 
stitutional innovations  in  the  government,  by  granting  such 
a  petition.  We  all  know  that  a  race  of  our  own  kings  for- 
feited the  throne  by  such  attempts.* 

The  king's  kindness  to  Esther  was  a  great  encouragement 
to  her  to  present  her  request.  But  his  attachment  to  Haman 
might  well  render  it  doubtful  whether  that  favourite  or  the 
queen  would  prevail.  It  is  not,  therefore,  strange  that  Esther 
desired  another  day  before  she  presented  her  request.  She 
trusted  in  God,  but  she  must  likewise  use  the  utmost  prudence. 
Paul  believed  God  that  he  shoifld  be  saved  from  the  hands  of 
the  Jews,  to  testify  concerning  Christ  at  Rome;  Acts  xxiii,  11; 
and  yet  he  made  application  to  the  chief  captain  to  protect  him 


Keferriug  to  the  House  of  Stewart.— Ed. 


CHAP.  V.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF  ESTHER.  251 

from  their  snares.     The  use  of  the  best  means  for  o])taInlnjr 
what  we  desire  ouglit  to  accompany  our  hope  in  God. 

It  is  good  always  to  avoid  undue  delays  in  doing  wliat  is 
right;  yet  precipitancy  is  likewise  to  be  avoided.  We  know 
not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth,  when  we  wait  for  a  proper 
season.  Esther  seems  plainly  to  have  been  directed  by  the 
Divine  Providence  in  deferring  her  petition  to  the  following 
day.  Very  unexpected  events  fell  out  in  the  interval,  whicli 
greatly  favoured  her  request. 

Verse  9. — Then  ivent  Haman  forth  that  day  joyful,  and  with 
a  glad  heart:  hut  when  Haman  saw  Mordecai  in  the  kinr/a  gate, 
that  he  stood  not  up,  nor  moved  for  him,  he  was  full  of  indifj  na- 
tion against  Mordecai. 

Unhappy  are  they  whose  chief  happiness  lies  in  the  favour 
of  princes,  or  in  any  earthly  object.  Haman  thought  hiniselt* 
happy  in  the  king's  favour,  which  he  enjoyed.  He  though  him- 
self happy  in  the  queen's  favour,  which  he  did  not  enjoy.  He 
was  soon  to  know  that  he  was  equally  deceived  in  botli.  The 
queen  was  already  plotting  his  destruction,  and  the  king's  fa- 
vour was  soon  to  be  converted  into  deadly  hatred. 

Vain  are  the  joys  of  them  that  have  their  portion  in  this 
life.  Double  vanity  is  in  the  joys  of  the  proud.  They  are 
exposed  to  misery  no  less  by  their  own  capricious  fancies,  than 
by  the  changeable  nature  of  external  objects.  Although  Ha- 
man had  been  able  to  secure  the  king's  favour  to  the  end  of 
his  life;  although  he  had  been  no  less  the  favourite  of  Esther 
than  of  Ahasuerus;  what  good  would  all  have  done  him,  when 
such  a  trifle  as  the  stiffness  of  Mordecai's  knees  could  make 
him  unhappy?  He  must  every  day  have  met  with  something 
to  deprive  him  of  the  possession  of  his  own  soul.  A  man  who 
cannot  be  happy  unless  every  person  give  him  all  the  respect 
which  he  may  think  his  due,  will  never  be  happy  till  the  Al- 
mighty resign  to  him  the  government  of  the  world. 

Mordecai  was  as  far  as  ever  from  bowing  the  knee  to  Ha- 
man. He  acted  on  a  principle  of  conscience,  and  no  circum- 
stances could  alter  the  settled  purpose  of  his  soul.  Hainan  can 
procure  a  sentence  of  death  against  him,  and  against  his  peo- 
ple; but  he  cannot  turn  sin  into  duty:  and  let  death  or  life 


252  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  IX. 

come,  it  was  Mordecai's  resolution  to  be  found  in  that  good 
path  which  leads  to  life  and  peace. — ^Haman  was  full  of  in- 
dignation against  Mordecai/ 

Verse  10. — Nevertheless  Haman  refrained  himself:  and  when 
he  came  home,  he  sent  and  called  for  his  friends,  andZeresh  his  wife. 

When  proud  men  are  seeking  glory  from  others,  they  are 
often  secretly  ashamed  of  themselves.  Haman  was  ashamed 
to  disclose  that  secret  rage  which  boiled  in  his  bosom,  when 
Mordecai  bowed  not  his  knees  to  him.  He  had  indeed  good 
reason  to  be  ashamed,  that  a  man  so  great,  and  blessed  with 
such  affluence  of  worldly  comforts,  should  be  a  slave  to  his 
own  vanity,  and  dependent  on  every  man  he  saw  for  his  hap- 
piness. What  man  is  more  to  be  pitied  than  he  who  cannot 
enjoy  auy  comfort  without  the  consent  of  all  his  neighbours, 
without  excepting  those  whom  most  of  all  others  he  hates  and 
despises?  Such  is  the  proud  man.  He  despises  all  around 
him,  and  yet  cannot  taste  of  happiness  if  any  of  them  think  fit 
to  deny  him  that  homage  which  he  wishes  to  enjoy.  Let  him 
hear  the  praises  or  the  flatteries  of  nine  hundred  of  his  neigh- 
bours, his  heart  may  be  swelled  with  joy  ;  but  that  joy  is  de- 
pendent for  its  continuance  upon  the  next  man  he  meets.  The 
meanness  of  such  a  man^s  spirit  must  cover  him  with  shame, 
when  it  is  disclosed.  Haman  would  not  disclose  his  chagrin 
in  the  presence  of  Mordecai,  but  he  could  not  conceal  it  from 
his  friends.  ^  When  he  came  home,  he  sent  and  called  for  his 
friends,  and  Zeresh  his  wife.' 

Verses  11,  12. — And  Haman  told  them  of  the  glory  of  his 
riches,  and  the  multitude  of  his  children,  and  all  the  things  wherein 
the  Icing  had  ^promoted  him,  and  how  he  had  advanced  him  above 
the  princes  and  servants  of  the  king.  Haman  said,  moreover; 
Yea,  Esther  the  queen  did  let  no  man  come  in  with  the  king  unto 
the  banquet  that  she  had  prepared,  but  myself;  and  to-morrow  am 
I  invited  unto  her  also  with  the  king. 

Haman  gives  his  friends  an  inventory  of  his  happiness.  He 
was  immensely  rich.  He  had  many  children  to  preserve  his 
fame  in  the  world.  He  was  the  unrivalled  favourite  of  the  king ; 
and  he  was  no  less  so  of  the  queen,  who  honoured  him  almost 
as  much  as  the  king  did.    Amongst  all  the  king's  noble  princes, 


CHAP.  v.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  253 

none  was  admitted  to  the  queen's  royal  banquet  witli  tlie  kin«r 
but  himself.  Not  one  of  the  brothers  or  cousins  of  the  kin^r^ 
not  a  relation  of  the  queen,  was  called  to  the  feast.  Hainan 
must,  therefore,  be  considered  as  the  second  man  of  the  kingdom. 

Eiches  are  good.  The  favour  of  kings  and  of  queens  may 
be  very  useful,  and  give  great  pleasure.  But,  unhappy  is  tlie 
man  whose  chief  happiness  lies  in  any  of  these  things,  or  in  all 
of  them  together.  Riches  soon  make  to  themselves  wings,  and 
fly  away;  and  during  the  time  of  their  continuance,  they  can- 
not ease  the  body  afflicted  with  the  slightest  disorder;  far  less  can 
they  produce  that  tranquillity  of  soul,  without  which  men  must 
be  miserable  were  they  in  paradise  itself.  Children  are  no  less 
mortal  than  their  parents,  and  their  life  is  often  more  grievous 
than  their  death  would  be.  Princes  may  shower  down  favours 
upon  us,  and  their  smiles  may  gratify  our  vanity.  But  they 
may  smile  to-day,  and  frown  to-morrow.  To-day  they  may 
invite  us  to  their  banquets,  and,  if  they  are  absolute  princes, 
may  to-morrow  pronounce  the  sentence  of  our  death.  Besides, 
we  know  not  the  hearts  of  princes,  and  we  may  deceive  our- 
selves with  fond  opinions  of  their  friendship,  which  a  sliort 
time  will  discover  to  have  been  illusions  of  our  own  imagina- 
tion. Haman's  fate  ought  to  be  a  lesson  to  those  who  boast 
themselves  because  they  are  become  exceeding  rich,  and  be- 
cause they  are  blessed  with  every  thing  that  the  heart  of  a  man 
of  the  world  can  wish.  We  know  not  what  a  day  may  bring 
forth.  On  the  morrow  after  Haman  boasted  to  his  wife  and 
friends  of  his  unequalled  prosperity,  his  honour  was  laid  lower 
than  the  dust.  His  great  friends  appeared  to  be  his  deadly 
enemies.  His  wealth  became  the  property  of  one  of  the  na- 
tion which  he  had  devoted  to  destruction.  His  ten  children 
were  left  unprotected,  to  feel  the  dismal  effects  of  their  father's 
crimes.  How  well-founded  is  the  precept  of  the  apostle! — 
'Let  them  that  have  wives  (or  any  relation)  be  as  though  they 
had  them  not;  and  they  that  rejoice,  as  though  tliey  rejoiced 
not;  and  they  that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not:  for  the 
fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away.' 

Verse  13.— Fd  all  this  availeth  me  nothing ^  so  long  as  I  see 
Mordecal  the  Jew  sitting  at  the  hinges  gate. 


254  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  IX. 

Haman  himself  confesses  the  vanity  of  his  high-swelling 
words.  AYhy  does  he  talk  of  his  riches,  of  his  children,  of 
the  favour  of  the  king  and  queen,  of  the  grandeur  of  his  con- 
dition? That  his  friends  might  congratulate  him  as  the  hap- 
piest man  in  the  king's  dominions.  Yet  with  the  same  breath 
he  declares  himself  unhappy.  He  confesses  that  all  that  con- 
fluence of  blessings  which  swelled  him  with  pride,  were  not 
blessings  to  him,  because  a  certain  man  whom  he  despised  did 
not  bow  the  knee  to  him. 

There  are  few  who  will  confess  so  plainly  as  Haman  the 
weakness  of  their  own  spirit.  Men  are  ashamed  to  say  that 
trifles  disturb  their  minds  and  deprive  them  of  self-enjoyment. 
But  it  is  certain,  that  numbers,  like  Haman,  are  miserable 
amidst  the  means  of  happiness,  because  they  want  a  disposi- 
tion for  enjoying  happiness.  They  are  so  unreasonable,  that 
a  thousand  enjoyments  lose  all  their  relish,  for  the  want  of 
something  else  which  they  cannot  obtain.  'A  good  man  is 
satisfied  from  himself;'  and  he  that  is  not  satisfied  from  him- 
self, will  not  be  satisfied  from  any  thing  without  him.  He  is 
like  a  sick  man  surrounded  with  the  richest  dainties.  He  can- 
not relish  them.     He  starves  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 

Give  a  whole  world  of  pleasure  to  a  man  who  loves  the 
world,  and  the  things  of  it,  he  will  soon  find  that  something 
is  wanted,  though  perhaps  he  does  not  know  so  well  as  Ha- 
man thought  he  did,  what  it  is.  He  finds  some  gall  and  worm- 
wood that  spread  poison  over  his  pleasures.  All  his  abundance 
cannot  compensate  for  the  loss  of  some  one  thing  or  other  that 
he  deems  essential  to  his  happiness.  The  fact  is,  that  the 
world  cannot  give  a  right  constitution  to  his  disordered  soul, 
or  be  a  substitute  for  that  divine  favour  in  which  lies  the  life 
of  our  souls.  Habakkuk,  Paul,  and  other  good  men,  could 
be  happy  in  the  want  of  every  earthly  enjoyment;  nor  could 
all  the  miseries  which  are  the  objects  of  aversion  to  the  gene- 
rality of  mankind  greatly  disturb  their  tranquillity;  Hab.  iii. 
17,  18:  2  Cor.  ii.  14;  for  God  was  the  portion  of  their  in- 
heritance, and  in  him  they  had  what  a  thousand  worlds  could 
not  give.  But  those  who  know  not  God,  and  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whom  are  the  light  and  the  life  of  men,  know  not 


CHAP.  V.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  255 

the  way  of  peace.  Whatever  they  have,  they  want  the  one 
thing  needful,  without  which  all  things  else  are  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit. 

*  I  have  all  things,  and  abound,'  said  an  apostle,  who  was 
often  in  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  nakedness ;  and  who,  at  the 
time  when  he  wrote  these  words,  was  a  poor  prisoner,  that  liud 
newly  received  a  temporary  supply  from  his  friends.  This 
man  had  nothing,  and  yet  possessed  all  things.  Ten  thousand 
talents  were  but  a  small  part  of  Haman's  wealth ;  and  yet  he 
is  miserably  poor,  for  all  that  he  had  could  avail  him  nothing. 
The  believer  in  Christ  must  be  rich  in  the  midst  of  poverty ; 
for  he  is  possessed  of  'gold  tried  in  the  fire.'  The  man  who 
knows  not  Christ,  is  poor  though  he  be  rich,  because  he  is 
utterly  destitute  of  Hhe  true  riches.' 

Verse  14. — Then  said  Zeresh  his  wife  and  all  his  friends  unto 
him,  Let  a  gallows  be  made  of  fifty  cubits  high,  and  to-morroio 
speah  thou  unto  the  king  that  Mordecai  may  be  hanged  thereon; 
then  go  thou  in  merrily  with  the  king  unto  the  banquet.  And  the 
thing  pleased  Haman;  and  he  caused  the  gallows  to  be  made. 

Miserable  comforters  were  all  those  friends  of  Haman.  They 
were  all  physicians  of  no  value.  What  though  Mordecai  had 
been  hanged,  and,  to  make  his  ignominious  end  the  more  con- 
spicuous, upon  a  gallows  of  fifty  cubits  high?  Haman's  dis- 
ease lay  deep  in  his  heart.  A  day  would  not  have  passed  till 
some  other  vexation  would  have  disquieted  him.  He  would 
have  rejoiced  for  a  moment  at  Mordecai's  downfall;  but  the 
joys  of  murder  cannot  be  pure.  The  bitterness  of  hatred,  and 
the  reflections  of  conscience,  must  have  polluted  and  embittered 
his  pleasure.  His  pride  would  have  raised  up  other  Mor- 
(lecais.  Some,  through  inadvertency,  others  through  envy, 
would  soon  have  disquieted  his  soul  with  new  instances  of  dis- 
respect, which  to  him  would  have  been  insufferable  insults. 
Or,  if  fear  had  constrained  every  man  in  the  Persian  domin- 
ions to  give  him  all  the  honour  he  desired,  yet  it  was  not  to 
be  hoped  that  it  would  be  rain  and  sunshine  at  his  pleasure ; 
that  dogs,  and  horses,  and  bulls,  would  always  regulate  their 
motions  by  his  humour.  He  was  not  less  proud  than  Xerxes, 
the  father  of  his   lord  Ahasuerus,  who  exercised  his  impotent 


256  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  IX. 

vengeance  upon  the  winds  and  the  seas,  when  they  took  the 
liberty  to  break  down  his  bridge  over  the  Hellespont! 

If  a  proud  man  make  his  complaint  to  you  of  his  unhappi- 
ness,  you  but  make  him  more  unhappy  if  you  advise  him  to 
gratify  his  pride  by  unreasonable  and  sinful  means.  You 
might  as  well  advise  a  man  dying  of  a  dropsy  to  pour  into 
his  throat  large  quantities  of  water.  Advise  him  to  mortify 
his  pride,  and  to  learn  of  Him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart  to  deny  himself;  to  prepare  himself  for  bearing  the 
cross;  to  take  upon  himself  the  yoke  of  Christ,  which  is  easy. 
The  humble  man  is  always  happy.  The  proud  man  never  can 
be  happy  till  he  is  effectually  humbled.  It  is  not  consistent 
with  the  nature  of  things,  nor  with  the  will  of  the  high  and 
lofty  One,  who  abhors  the  proud,  that  the  gratifications  which 
pride  requires  should  ever  give  pure  or  lasting  pleasure  to  the 
soul. 

Haman  was  pleased  with  the  advice  of  his  friends,  and  be- 
gan to  put  it  in  execution.  But  he  found  too  soon,  that  *he 
who  flattereth  a  man  spreadeth  a  net  for  his  feet.'  Haman 
prepared  for  Mordecai  in  intention,  but  for  himself  in  reality, 
a  gallows  of  fifty  cubits  high.  Remember  and  believe  the  in- 
struction of  the  wise  man, — ^He  that  diggeth  a  pit  shall  fall 
into  it;  and  whoso  breaketh  an  hedge,  a  serpent  shall  bite  him.' 


CHAP.  VI.  1-13.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  257 


DISCOURSE  X 


HAMAN  IS  COMPELLED  TO  CONFER  A  SINGULAR  HONOUR  UPON  MOR- 
DECAI,   WHICH   HE  HOPED  TO  PROCURE  FOR  HIMSELF. 

CHAPTER  VI.  1-13. 

Verse  1. — On  that  night  could  not  the  king  sleep y  and  he  com- 
manded  to  bring  the  book  of  records  of  the  chronicles;  and  they 
were  read  before  the  king. 

The  king  could  not  sleep,  any  more  than  we,  when  he 
pleased.  Of  what  use,  some  will  say,  is  royal-  dignity,  if  it 
cannot  procure  sleep  to  the  wearied  eyelids?  A  king,  by  the 
wise  administration  of  government,  may  procure  sleep  to  his 
people;  on  the  contrary,  by  his  oppression,  he  may  cause  many 
wearisome  nights  to  his  subjects,  in  which  their  sorrows  will 
not  suffer  them  to  sleep.  But  the  regal  dignity  will  not  insure 
sleep  to  him  who  enjoys  it.  It  is  more  likely  to  debar  his  eyes 
from  rest  by  those  anxious  cares  whieh  attend  it;  or  by  those 
uneasy  reflections  which  attend  the  abuse  of  power.  Labour, 
and  a  good  conscience,  will  procure  sweeter  sleep  than  all  llio 
riches  in  the  world. 

On  that  night  could  not  the  king  sleep. — On  what  night "/ 
The  night  preceding  the  decisive  day  on  which  Esther  was  to 
present  her  petition,  and  the  morning  on  which  Ilaman  had 
a  petition  of  an  opposite  kind  to  be  presented  to  the  king. 
Observe  how  divine  Providence  kept  sleep  from  the  eyes  of 
Ahasuerus,  to  serve  his  own  gracious  purposes.  It  is  said  that 
^God  giveth  his  beloved  sleep.^  But  he  sometimes,  too,  with- 
holds sleep  from  them  for  good  purposes;  and  he  sometimes 
27 


258  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  X. 

hath  with-held  sleep  from  other  persons,  or  disturbed  it  with 
strange  dreams,  for  their  benefit.  A  dream  was  sent  to  Pha- 
raoh, that  Joseph  might  be  delivered  from  his  prison  and  ex- 
alted to  power.  Another  dream  was  sent  to  Nebuchadnezzar, 
to  procure  the  exaltation  of  Daniel  and  his  friends.  Ahasuerus 
was  kept  from  sleep,  that  he  might  not  suffer  Mordecai  to  be 
hanged. 

It  is  of  great  use  to  know  how  to  improve  those  moments 
of  the  night  in  which  we  are  debarred  from  sleep.  Ahasuerus, 
it  seems,  thought  he  could  not  employ  his  waking  moments 
better  than  by  hearing  the  chronicles  of  his  reign.  Here,  too, 
we  may  observe  the  superintending  care  of  providence.  Why 
did  not  a  prince,  who  delighted  in  pleasure,  rather  call  for  the 
melody  of  the  harp  and  viol,  than  for  the  chronicles  of  his 
reign  ?  It  was  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  be  put  in  mind 
of  what  Mordecai  had  done  for  him,  because  now  the  fit  time 
was  come  that  he  should  receive  the  reward  of  his  fidelity. 

Verse  2. — And  it  was  found  written,  that  Mordecai  had  told 
of  Blgthana  and  Teresh,  two  of  the  king^s  chamberlains ,  the  kee/pers 
of  the  door,  who  sought  to  lay  hand  on  the  king  Ahasuerus. 

How  came  this  part  of  the  records  to  be  read  at  this  time, 
rather  than  the  celebrated  exploits  of  Cyrus,  or  some  other 
passage  which  might  be  expected  best  to  entertain  the  wearied 
king?  Such  was  the  appointment  of  Providence,  which  regu- 
lates the  minutest  events.  ^The  footsteps  of  a  good  man  are 
ordered  by  the  Lord'  in  wisdom  and  love;  and  the  footsteps 
of  other  men  are  ordered  by  Him  in  wisdom  and  love  to  them 
that  love  God,  Uo  them  that  are  the  called  according  to  his 
purpose.' 

Mordecai  might  think  that  he  had  good  reason  to  complain 
of  the  disregard  showed  to  his  eminent  services.  The  king 
was  a  liberal  rewarder  of  others  who  had  done  little,  but  seemed 
to  have  forgotten  the  man  who  had  done  so  much  in  his  ser- 
vice; the  man  to  whom,  under  God,  he  owed  his  life.  Yet 
Mordecai  had  this  to  comfort  him,  that  his  name  and  his  ser- 
vices were  recorded  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles,  and  therefore 
were  not  likely  to  be  always  forgotten.  May  not  all  God's 
faithful  servants,  when  they  think  He  hath  forgotten  them, 


CHAP.  VI.  1-13.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  2o9 

comfort  themselves  with  the  assurance,  that  a  book  of  renxin- 
brance  is  written  before  God,  in  which  not  a  cup  of  cold  water 
given  to  a  disciple,  in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  is  omitted;  and 
that  infinite  wisdom  will  choose  out  the  time  of  their  reward? 

Verse  3. — And  the  king  said,  What  honour  and  dir/niti/  hath 
been  done  to  Mordeeaifor  this/  Then  said  the  king's  servants 
that  ministered  unto  /wm,  There  is  nothing  done  for  him. 

The  king  did  not  doubt  but  some  honour  and  dignity  had 
been  conferred  upon  Mordecai  for  saving  his  life.  He  could 
not  believe  that  he  had  been  so  thoughtlessly  ungrateful,  as 
never  to  requite  for  such  a  length  of  time  a  service  so  eminent 
as  that  which  Mordecai  had  performed;  and  was  astonished 
to  hear  his  servants  say  that  nothing  had  been  done  for  him. 

Let  us  take  a  review  of  our  lives,  and  consider  what  we  have 
done,  or  not  done.  If  our  memories  are  good,  we  shall  be 
surprised  at  many  instances  of  our  conduct,  or  of  our  forget- 
fulness.  Have  we  showed  all  that  sense  of  gratitude  to  our 
benefactors,  to  which  we  must  acknowledge  them  to  be  entitled  ? 
Have  we  not  often  intended  to  do  what  we  have  never  dune, 
although  we  must  blush  at  the  thought  that  we  have  not  done 
it?  And  can  we  forget,  that  amongst  our  benefactors  are  to 
be  reckoned  our  parents,  and,  most  of  all,  God  our  Maker? 

We  are  taught,  likewise,  by  this  question  of  Ahasuerus,  not 
to  impute  to  intention  what  may  be  the  effect  merely  of  inad- 
vertence. We  are  apt  to  make  louder  complaints  than  we  have 
any  reason  to  make,  of  the  ingratitude  of  those  to  whom  we 
have  performed  good  offices.  Perhaps  they  have  forgotten  that 
they  did  not  requite  them.  Perhaps  their  neglects  have  not 
originated  in  depravity  of  heart,  or  insensibility  to  benefits; 
but  in  thoughtlessness;  or,  it  was  occasioned  by  the  many  avo- 
cations of  other  affairs.  We  cannot,  indeed,  justify  those  who 
do  not  with  the  first  opportunity  requite  benefits  received;  but 
we  must  not  aggravate  real  evils.  Who  will  say  that  David 
did  not  retain  a  grateful  remememl)rance  of  what  Jonathan 
had  done  for  him  ?  And  yet  several  years  seem  to  have  elapsed, 
after  he  was  advanced  to  the  regal  dignity,  before  he  incjuired 
who  were  left  of  the  house  of  8aul,  that  he  might  show  them 
the  kindness  of  God  for  Jonathan's  sake;  and  several  more 


260  DISCOUESES   ON  THE  [DISC.  X. 

years  passed  away,  before  he  brought  the  bones  of  that  beloved 
friend  from  Jabesh-Gilead  to  be  interred  in  the  sepulchre  of 
his  fathers;  2  Samuel  xxi.  12-14. 

There  is  nothing  done  for  him,  said  the  servants  of  Ahasuerus. 
This  was  a  disagreeable  truth  which  they  could  not  conceal 
from  the  king.  But  the  evil  was  not  irreparable.  Mordecai 
was  still  alive,  and  the  king  could  yet  testify  his  sense  of  the 
benefit  received. 

Verse  4. — And  the  king  saidy  Who  is  in  the  court  f  Noio 
Haman  was  come  into  the  outward  court  of  the  hinges  house,  to 
speak  unto  the  king  to  hang  Mordecai  on  the  galloivs  that  he  had 
prepared  for  him. 

"'  Woe  to  them  that  devise  evil  upon  their  bed,^  or  before  they 
go  to  bed,  ^and  when  the  morning  is  light  practise  it.^  Haman 
rose  up  early  in  the  morning  to  obtain  the  accomplishment  of 
his  malicious  designs  against  Mordecai.  It  is  much  to  be  la- 
mented, that  the  children  of  the  wicked  one  are  often  more 
active  in  the  prosecution  of  their  corrupt  intentions,  than  the 
children  of  light  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  pious  and 
charitable  designs. 

Who  is  in  the  court?  said  the  king.  He  slept  not  for  the 
whole  night;  and  he  heard,  at  the  fittest  time  for  God's  pur- 
l)ose  in  keeping  him  awake,  that  Haman  was  in  the  court  of 
the  palace.  When  he  was  newly  informed  that  Mordecai  had 
never  been  rewarded  for  saving  his  life,  he  asked  the  ques- 
tion, ^  Who  is  in  the  court?' 

Verse  5. — And  the  king^s  servants  said  unto  him;  Behold,  Ha- 
man standeth  in  the  court.     And  the  king  said,  Let  him  come  in. 

When  the  king  had  formed  the  resolution  that  Mordecai 
should  be  imuied lately  rewarded  with  the  highest  honours,  he 
was  glad  that  Haman  had  come  so  opportunely  to  give  him 
his  advice  what  honours  were  fittest  to  be  conferred  on  him. 

Verse  G. — So  Haman  came  in.     Aud  the  king  said  unto  him, 
What  shall  be  done  unto  the  man  lohom  the  king  delighteth  to 
honour  f     Now  Haman  thought  in  his  heart.  To  whom  would  the 
king  delight  to  do  honour  more  than  to  myself  f 

Long  as  Mordecai  had  been  overlooked,  the  king  discovers 
a  warm  gratitude  for  his  good  service  when  it  is  called  to  re- 


CITAP.  YI.  1-13.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  261 

membrance.  This  teaches  us  one  hapi)y  means  of  cxcitintr 
gratitude  in  our  heart  to  our  benefactors.  Let  us  call  to  re- 
membrance their  benefits,  and  we  must  be  more  brutish  than 
oxen  or  asses  if  we  feel  not  grateful  impressions  on  our  hearts. 
It  was  by  this  method  that  David  awakened  his  s(nil  to  iUo, 
praises  of  God  for  all  his  benefits. 

You  may  likewise  be  of  great  use  to  your  neighbours,  by 
reminding  them,  when  it  appears  necessary,  of  the  benefits 
which  they  have  received,  either  from  their  fellow-men,  or  from 
their  Maker.  You  see  in  this  part  of  the  history  of  Ahasuerus, 
what  happy  effects  a  word  read  or  spoken  may  have. 

The  king  delighted  to  honour  the  man  who  had  saved  his 
life.  What  honour  is  due  to  our  parents  who  have  given  us 
life?  To  those  who  have  been  instrumental  in  saving  us  from 
eternal  wrath?  Above  all,  to  Him  who  gave  himself  for  us, 
that  we  might  be  preserved  from  everlasting  destruction?  1 
Cor.  vi.  20:  2  Cor.  v.  14,  15. 

Noio  Hainan  thought  in  his  heart,  To  ichom  should  the  king  de- 
light to  do  honour  more  than  to  myself  f — This  ])r()ud  conceit  of 
Haman  did  not  seem  to  be  without  ground.  If  the  king  had 
not  wanted  his  sleep  the  foregoing  night,  it  would  have  been 
well  founded.  How  uncertain  is  the  favour  of  men  !  and  how 
much  are  those  to  be  pitied,  who  mistake  the  rolling  wave  for 
a  solid  rock,  on  which  they  may  build  the  foundation  of  their 
happiness ! 

Verses  7,  8,  9. — And  Haman  answered  the  Icing,  For  the  maii 
whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour,  let  the  royal  apparel  be  brought 
which  the  king  useth  to  wear,  and  the  horse  that  the  king  ridcth 
upon,  and  the  crown-royal  which  is  set  upon  his  head;  and  let 
this  apparel  and  horse  be  delivered  to  the  hand  of  one  of  the  king's 
most  noble  princes,  thcd  they  may  array  the  man  withal  whom  the 
king  delighteth  to  honour,  and  bring  him  on  horseback  through 
the  street  of  the  city,  and  proclaim  before  him.  Thus  shall  it  be 
done  to  the  man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour. 

Haman  thought  with  himself  that  he  was  certainly  the  man 
whom  the  king  delighted  to  honour;  but  he  did  not  say  so. 
The  vainest  of  the  sons  of  men  atlect  modesty,  to  obtain  grati- 
fication to  their  vanity.     If  the  king  had  asked  Hauiau  what 


262  DISCOURSES  ox   THE  [dISC.  X. 

honour  he  wished  for  himself,  he  would  not  have  asked  what 
he  now  supposed  he  was  asking  for  himself,  without  incurring 
the  danger  into  which  Adonijah  brought  himself  bv  asking  the 
concubine  of  David  to  wife.  The  kings  of  the  East  were 
jealous  of  all  that  affected,  or  seemed  to  affect,  any  badge  of 
royal tv.  Alexander  the  Great,  when  he  was  sailing  upon  the 
river  Euphrates,  and  suffered  the  diadem  to  drop  from  his 
head  into  the  waters,  punished  with  death  a  seaman  who 
brought  it  out  of  the  river  upon  his  head. 

But  it  was  not  professedly  for  himself  It  was  for  the  man, 
unknown  to  him,  wdiom  the  king  desired  to  honoui,  that  Ha- 
nian  asked  the  glory,  not  Intherto  allowed  to  any  subject,  of 
wearing  for  once  the  royal  apparel,  and  of  riding  through  the 
city  on  the  favourite  horse  of  the  king,  adorned  with  a  royal 
coronet,  under  the  care  of  one  of  the  king's  most  noble  princes, 
who  was  on  that  day  to  be  the  servant  of  the  man  whom  the 
king  delighted  to  honour.  We  see  in  what  Haman  placed  the 
chief  happiness  of  man.  He  could  not  hope  to  obtain  the  ad- 
mired dignity  of  sitting  upon  the  royal  throne  :  but  the  happi- 
ness next  to  that,  in  his  estimation,  was  to  be  adorned  lor  once 
with  some  of  the  ensigns  of  royalty ;  to  be  served  by  the  greatest 
of  the  king's  princes  during  the  exhibition  of  his  royal  pomp; 
and  to  be  declared  the  favourite  of  the  king.  What  an  empty, 
what  a  transient  shadow  of  felicity  was  this  I  Surely  the  man 
M'ho  sought  it  from  the  king  was  a  child  in  understanding; 
and  yet  such  children  are  the  greatest  part  of  mankind.  What 
is  there  more  solid  or  satisfactory  in  any  of  the  objects  of  hu- 
man ])ursuit,  whilst  men  are  unilluminatcd  from  above?  ^Vani- 
ty of  vanities,  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity?'  But  we  can 
See  and  despise  the  folly  of  other  men  walking  in  a  vain  show, 
when  we  ourselves  walk  in  a  show  equally  vain.  ^Surely  every 
man  is  vanity! 

Verse  10. —  Then  the  king  said  to  Haman,  Make  haste,  and 
take  the  appatxi,  and  the  horse,  as  thou  hast  said,  and  do  even  so 
to  Mordceai  the  Jew,  that  sltteth  at  the  himfs  gate:  let  nothing 
fail  of  all  that  thou  hast  spoken. 

This  is  a  great  infelicity  which  attends  worldly  pursuits, 
that  there  is  no  proportion  between  the  pleasure  of  success  and 


CHAP.  VI.  1-13.]  BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  2G3 

the  pain  of  disappointment.  How  unsatisfactory  to  Ilaman 
would  the  wearing  of  royal  ornaments  for  a  small  i)art  of  a 
day  have  been,  and  all  the  other  honours  which  he  expected 
to  enjoy  only  for  a  few  moments!  We  can  scarcely  suppose 
that  the  pleasure  of  this  feast  to  his  vanity  would  have  lasted 
longer  than  a  night,  or  a  week.  But  how  dreadiul  a  stroke 
was  given  to  him,  by  hearing  that  the  man  whom  he  mortally 
hated  was  the  man  whom  the  king  delighted  t(j  honour;  that 
he  was  to  be  invested  with  that  royal  pomp  to  which  Haman 
himself  looked  as  the  perfection  of  felicity;  and  that  he  must 
become  the  servant  of  that  man  for  whom  he  had  erected  a 
gallows  fifty  cubits  high !  What  exquisite  misery,  if  he  had 
lived  to  endure  it,  must  have  been  his  portion,  at  the  galling 
remembrance  of  his  own  disgrace,  when  the  erection  of  the 
lofty  gibbet  published  to  the  whole  city  the  height  of  his  hopes 
and  the  bitterness  of  his  disappointment! 

Let  nothing  fail,  said  the  king,  of  alltliat  thou  hast  spoken. — 

He  counted  no  honours  too  great  for  his  benefactor.  He 
would  compensate  by  his  liberality  the  time  which  Mordecai 
had  lived  unrewarded  and  unhonoured.  If  we  have  neglected 
to  do  good  when  we  should  have  done  it,  let  us  use  double 
diligence  in  doing  it,  if  time  is  still  left  us  to  repair  our  omis- 
sions. 

Verse  11. — Then  took  Ilaman  the  apparel,  andtJie  horse,  and 
arrayed  Mordecai,  and  brought  hhn  on  horseback  through  the 
street  of  the  city,  and  proclaimed  before  him,  Thus  shall  it  be  done 
unto  the  man  whom  the  king  deUghteth  to  honour. 

Do  you  complain  that  you  must  deny  yourselves,  and  take 
up  your  cross  in  following  Christ?  But  who  is  the  man  that 
is  exempted  from  trouble,  or  the  man  that  does  not  find  it 
necessary  to  deny  himself  on  many  occasions?  And  is  it  not 
better  to  deny  ourselves  for  Christ,  than  to  deny  ourselves 
for  the  sake  of  any  earthly  object?  You  see  that  Haman, 
great  as  he  was  in  the  court  of  Ahasuerus,  must  serve  Mor- 
decai as  his  lacquey,  and  perform  to  him  those  services  which 
to  Haman  himself  appeared  the  most  glorious  of  all  others, 
when  he  would  have  given  thousands  of  gold  and  silver  lor  a 
warrant  to  slay  him.     The  greatest  earthly  princes  must  ol'ten 


264  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  X. 

do  things  displeasing  or  omit  things  pleasing  to  themselves, 
for  temporary  advantage,  or  even  without  the  prospect  of  ad- 
vantage. What  could  Haman  gain  from  Mordecai,  or  from 
Ahasuerus,  for  doing  what  he  could  not  do  without  the  most 
extreme  reluctance?  But  the  least  instance  of  self-denial  for 
the  sake  of  Christ  shall  be  attended  with  a  great  reward,  worthy 
of  the  bounty  of  the  Giver. 

Mordecai  was  too  wise  to  value  those  childish  honours  which 
appeared  so  glorious  to  Haman.  He  was,  undoubtedly,  struck 
with  amazement  when  Haman  brought  to  him  the  royal  robes, 
and  the  royal  horse.  But  it  was  necessary  for  him. to  yield 
obedience  to  the  king's  pleasure ;  and,  doubtless,  he  saw  the 
srracious  hand  of  God  in  what  was  done  to  him.  Mordecai 
had  more  sagacity  than  the  friends  of  Haman,  who  saw  his  fall 
before  Mordecai  the  Jew  presaged  by  this  instance  of  his  hu- 
miliation. Jacob  saw  the  love  of  God  in  the  face  of  his  recon- 
ciled enemy.  Mordecai  saw  the  favour  of  God  in  the  reluctant 
services  performed  by  an  enemy  as  full  of  malice  as  ever,  and 
was  cheered  by  the  dawnings  of  that  deliverance  to  his  nation 
for  which  he  had  been  praying  and  looking. 

Verse  12. — And  Mordecai  came  again  to  the  hinges  gate:  but 
HcMian  hasted  to  his  house ,  mourning  and  having  his  head  covered. 

If  you  desire  to  be  happy,  be  clothed  with  humility,  and 
mortify  pride.  Haman  in  prosperity  was  miserable,  and  in 
adversity  was  doubly  miserable,  because  he  was  the  slave  of 
pride.  Mordecai  preserved  the  even  tenor  of  his  soul  in  pros- 
perity and  in  adversity.  When  he  was  led  in  royal  state 
through  the  city,  and  publicly  proclaimed  the  king's  favourite, 
he  was  the  same  man  as  before;  and  returned  without  noise  to 
the  duties  of  his  humble  station.  Haman's  disappointment 
crushed  his  spirits.  He  hastened  to  his  house,  to  pour  out 
his  sorrows  to  his  friends,  who  could  give  him  no  comfort. 
He  came  back  with  his  face  covered,  in  token  of  that  anguish 
which  preyed  upon  his  heart,  and  that  shame  which  would 
not  suffer  him  to  show  his  face.  Yesterday  he  went  out  from 
the  king's  presence  merry  and  joyful  of  heart.  To-day  he 
goes  to  his  house  pierced  with  incurable  grief.  For,  since 
Adam  was  upon  the  earth,  *the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is 


CHAP.  VI.  1-13.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  265 

short,  and  the  joy  of  the  hypocrite  but  for  a  moment;  Jobxx.  5. 

Verse  13. — And  Ilaman  told  Zeresh  his  wife,  and  all  his 
friends  J  every  thing  that  had  befallen  him: — 

He  would  have  acted  as  wisely,  if  he  had  left  his  sorrows 
concealed  in  his  own  bosom ;  but  this  was  impracticable.  They 
were  too  violent  to  be  concealed.  He  probably  expected  some 
mitigation  to  his  griefs  from  the  kindness  of  his  friends.  But 
miserable  comforters  were  they  all  !  Their  words  were  the 
piercings  of  a  sword. 

Then  said  his  wise  men  and  Zeresh  his  wife  unto  him.  If  Mor- 
decai  be  of  the  seed  of  the  Jews,  before  whom  thou  hast  begun  to 
fall,  thou  shalt  not  prevail  against  him,  but  shalt  surely  fall  be- 
fore him. 

Who  were  these  wise  men?  Either  sages  whom  Haman 
patronised,  and  from  whom  he  expected  wise  counsel  when  he 
required  it;  or  diviners,  who  were  believed  to  know  more  than 
men  could  know,  without  some  communication  with  superior 
beings.  Many  of  the  heathens  put  much  confidence  in  di- 
viners, but  we  have  learned  better  things  from  the  word  of 
God.  By  making  it  our  counsellor  at  all  times  of  perplexity, 
we  shall  find  peace  to  our  souls;  Isaiah  viii.  19,  20:  Psalm 
cxix.  24. 

'If  Mordecai  be  of  the  seed  of  the  Jews,  before  whom  thou 
hast  begun  to  fall,  thou  shalt  not  prevail  against  him,  but  shalt 
surely  fall.' — If  Mordecai  be  of  the  seed  of  the  Jews.  Why 
do  they  lay  so  much  stress  upon  the  stock  from  which  ]Mor- 
decai  sprung?  If  Mordecai  had  been  a  native  Per.<ian,  or  a 
Babylonian,  or  an  Egyptian,  would  they  not  have  prognosti- 
cated equal  success  to  him  against  Haman?  No;  it  plainly 
appears  that  the  dispensations  of  divine  providence  in  favour 
of  the  Jews  were  so  far  known  to  them,  as  to  assure  them  that 
Providence  watched  over  their  interests  in  a  manner  peculiar 
to  their  nation.  Although  most  men  are  disposed  to  think 
that  their  own  country  is  happy  above  others  in  the  divine  fa- 
vour, and  although  the  Persians  at  this  time  seemed  to  have 
good  reason  to  flatter  themselves  with  a  special  interest  in  the 
favour  of  Pleaven,  yet  these  wise  Persians  plainly  confessed, 
that  the  Jews  scattered  through  the  nations  were  the  special 


266  DISCOUESES   ON   THE  [dISC.  X. 

objects  of  the  divine  care.  The  wonders  done  in  Babylon  were 
known  to  all  the  world,  and  could  not  fliil  to  impress  all  con- 
siderate persons  with  high  sentiments  concerning  the  God  of 
Israel.  Ilanian's  wise  men  might  have  read  the  sacred  books 
of  the  Jews,  in  which  they  would  find  that  their  God  had 
wrought  as  great  wonders  for  them  iii  times  past,  as  in  the 
period  of  the  Babylonian  captivity.  They  learned  instruction 
from  the  works  of  God.  They  saw  that  the  same  God  who 
had  preserved  Daniel  and  his  companions,  watched  over  the 
safety  and  fortune  of  Mordecai;  and  they  concluded  that  Ha- 
man,  his  irreconcilable  enemy,  would  fall  under  the  weight 
of  his  vengeance. 

But  it  is  strange  that  these  wise  men,  and  even  the  wife  of 
Ilaman,  whatever  they  thought,  expressed  to  him  their  mind 
so  fully.  If  they  did  not  choose  to  flatter  him,  might  they 
not  at  least  have  concealed  their  dismal  conjectures,  especially 
as  he  was  led  by  their  counsels  to  that  public  disgrace  in  which 
he  had  involved  himself,  by  building  a  gallows  for  the  man 
who  was  appointed  to  be  the  king's  favorite?  for  although  it 
was  built  in  the  court  of  his  own  house,  yet  the  news  of  its 
erection  was  soon  to  spread.  It  appears  from  the  freedom 
they  used  with  Haman,  that  they  already  considered  him  as  a 
lost  man,  whom  it  was  useless  to  flatter.  They  were  his  friends 
as  long  as  his  friendship  could  profit  them  ;  and  now  they  seem 
to  have  cared  little  whether  he  accounted  them  his  friends  or 
his  enemies.  Their  prophecy  must  have  been  as  unpleasant 
as  the  howling  of  a  dog,  or  even  a  sentence  of  death,  to  his 
ears.  The  rich  hath  many  friends;  but  when  poverty  is  seen 
coming  like  an  armed  man,  they  vanish  away  like  snow  in  the 
days  of  sunshine. 

M  e  may,  however,  learn  useful  instruction  from  a  prophecy, 
dictatccl  by  reflection  on  the  works  of  the  Lord.  Blind  hea- 
thens have  been  forced  to  see,  that  God  takes  care  of  his  peo- 
ple; that  he  often  interposes  wonderfully  for  their  deliver- 
ance; and  that  he  leaves  not  his  gracious  works  in  their  be- 
half unfinished.  Why  do  not  God's  own  people,  in  the  day  of 
their  distress,  call  to  remembrance  his  judgments  for  their  con- 
eolation,  and  for  the  support  of  their  faith?     When  he  begins 


CHAP.  vr.  1-13.]  book  of  estiier.  267 

to  deliver  them,  why  do  they  indulge  distrusting  fears  about 
the  accomplishment  of  that  work  which  he  hatli  taken  into 
his  own  hand  ?  Why  are  they  not  thankful  for  the  day  of  small 
things,  as  the  beginning  of  months  of  joy?  After  Jesus  un- 
dertook to  heal  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  strong  temptations  met 
the  mourning  parent,  when  Jesus  was  on  the  road  to  complete 
his  work,  and  fears  began  to  overwhelm  his  soul.  But  wdiat 
said  Jesus?  ^Fear  not,  only  believe.'  He  believed,  and  re- 
ceived his  daughter  back  from  death. 


268  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XI. 


DISCOURSE  XI. 


haman's  fall  and  death. 

CHAPTER  VI.  14 — CHAPTER  VII.  10. 

Verse  14. — And  while  they  were  yet  talking  icith  him,  came  the 
J:inr/'s  chamberlains,  and  hasted  to  bring  Haman  unto  the  banquet 
that  Esther  had  prepared. 

When  Haman,  on  the  former  day,  left  the  queen's  ban- 
quet, he  went  forth  joyful  and  glad  of  heart.  One  reason  of 
his  joy  was,  that  he  was  invited  to  a  like  banquet  next  day. 
*  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth.'  Art  thou  invited  to  a  banquet?  Thou 
knowest  not  whether  thou  shalt  partake  of  it,  or  whether  it 
will  give  thee  any  pleasure  to  partake  of  it.  Haman  was  in 
no  haste  to  this  day's  banquet.  He  waited  till  he  w\as  sent  for; 
and  would  have  gladly  gone  to  a  house  of  mourning,  rather 
than  the  house  of  feasting,  for  his  mind  w^as  ill  fitted  for  the 
joys  of  a  banquet.  But  he  is  not  his  own  master.  He  must 
comply,  as  fir  as  he  can,  with  the  will  of  the  king.  With  a 
heart  full  of  grief  he  goes  to  a  feast  where  he  must  eat  the 
bread  of  sorrow,  and  drink  his  own  tears. 

CiiAP.  vii.  1,  2. — So  the  king  and  Haman  came  to  banquet 
with  EntJicr  tlw  queen.  And  the  king  said  again  unto  Esther  on 
(he  second  day  at  the  banquet  of  wine.  What  is  thy  petition,  queen 
Esther  f  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee:  and  what  is  thy  request  f 
and  if  shall  be  performed,  even  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom. 

Hainan,  honoured  with  the  king's  society  at  the  banquet  of 
wine,  might  expect  to  be  consoled  for  his  late  disappointment, 
by  new  expressions  of  the  royal  favour.    But  soon  did  his  hope^ 


CHAP.  VI.  14— VII.  10.]      BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  269 

if  any  remained,  prove  like  the  giving  up  of  the  ghost.  He 
was  brought  to  the  banquet,  not  that  he  might  enjoy  the  queen's 
smiles,  but  that  he  might  hear  an  accusation  against  himself, 
which  touched  his  life,  and  to  which  he  could  not  answer. 

The  king  persisted  in  his  kind  sentiments  towards  Esther. 
For  the  third  time  he  promises,  whatever  her  petition  was, 
to  grant  it,  even  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom.  Who  would  not 
have  been  emboldened  by  a  promise  so  often  given?  To  have 
deferred  the  petition  any  longer  would  have  but  argued  an 
ungrateful  distrust  of  the  king's  sincerity.  Let  us  remember 
how  much  greater  encouragement  we  have  to  present  our  re- 
quests to  God;  and  what  distrust  we  discover  of  his  fliithful- 
ness,  if  we  do  not  come  before  his  throne  of  grace  with  boldness. 
No  less  than  six  times,  in  the  compass  of  one  sentence,  does 
our  Lord  Jesus  assure  us  that  our  prayers  shall  be  heard ; 
Matt.  vii.  7,  8. 

Verse  3. — Then  Esther  the  queen  ansivered,  and  said;  If  I  have 
found  favour  in  thy  sight,  0  king!  and  if  it  please  the  Icing,  let 
my  life  be  given  at  my  petition,  and  my  people  at  my  request: 

Esther,  at  last,  ventured  to  bring  forth  her  request.  The 
nature  of  the  case  pressed  her.  The  king's  solicitations  urged 
her.  His  kindness  and  his  promises  encouraged  her.  Un- 
necessary delays  are  dangerous,  especially  in  matters  of  great 
importance. 

The  request  was  for  her  life,  and  the  life  of  her  people.  The 
king  was  no  less  surprised  at  this  petition,  than  Festus  was  at 
hearing  the  accusation  of  the  Jews  against  Paul.  It  was,  cer- 
tainly, not  for  any  such  thing  as  the  king  supposed.  It  never 
camJ  into  his  mind,  that  his  beloved  queen  could  have  any 
occasion  to  present  a  petition  to  him  for  her  life.  Although 
by  his  own  authority,  (but  without  his  knowledge,)  a  sentence 
of  death  had  been  pronounced  against  her,  it  must  have  aston- 
ished him  to  hear,  that  she  and  her  people  were  doomed  to 
destruction  ;  and  it  must  astonish  the  reader  of  this  history, 
that  the  king,  five  years  after  his  marriage  with  the  queen, 
should  have  passed  a  sentence  of  death  upon  her  whole  na- 
tion, without  knowing  it.  Into  such  absurdities  are  princes 
led   who  are  too  indolent  to  look  into  their  own  affairs,  and 


270  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dtSC.  XI. 

have  them  to  be  managed  without  control  by  favourites,  who 
have  tlieir  own  Interests  to  serve,  and  their  own  passions  to 
gratify. 

Verse  4. — For  ice  are  sold,  I  and  my  people,  to  be  destroyed, 
to  br  slain,  and  to  perish.  But  if  we  had  been  sold  for  bond-men 
and  bond-women,  I  had  held  my  tonr/ue,  although  the  enemy  could 
not  counten^ail  the  hinges  damage. 

The  good  queen  enforces  her  petition  with  resistless  elo- 
quence. 'I  and  my  people  are  sold  to  be  destroyed,  to  be 
slain,  and  to  perish.'  These  words  are  borrowed  from  the 
king's  edict  against  the  Jews.  The  king  must  have  been 
greatly  moved  to  hear  that  the  queen  was  sold  like  a  sheep  to 
be  slaughtered;  and  not  the  queen  herself  only,  but  all  her 
friends,  and,  what  was  more,  her  whole  nation.  His  heart 
must  have  been  a  thousand  times  harder  than  flint,  if  he  had 
not  been  moved  at  this  representation  of  the  danger  to  which 
she  and  her  people  were  exposed.  If  a  humane  prince  will 
exert  his  power  for  the  protection  of  the  meanest  of  his  sub- 
jects exposed  to  unmerited  danger,  what  might  not  the  great 
king  of  Persia  be  expected  to  do  for  the  preservation  of  a  be- 
loved queen,  and  of  all  that  were  dear  to  her! 

It  is  plain  that  she  was  not  putting  her  husband  to  unneces- 
sary trouble  by  her  jietltion,  which  was  extorted  from  her  by 
tiie  most  pressing  danger;  and  she  informs  him,  that  if  the 
danger  had  been  less  dreadful,  she  would  have  been  silent. 
If  she  and  her  people  had  been  sold  like  bond-men  and  bond- 
women, tlien  she  would  have  left  it  to  time  to  convince  the 
king  that  his  own  interest  required  his  interposition,  or  she 
would  have  left  their  deliverance  to  be  effected  by  the  gradual 
operation  of  divine  providence  in  their  behalf  '  But  the  case 
was  very  dlirerent  as  matters  stood.  The  year  was  not  to  end 
before  tlicIr  utter  destruction,  unless  something  was  presently 
done  for  tiieir  preservation;  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
God  would  show  wonders  to  the  dead,  and  make  them  to  arise 
and  praise  him.  The  king  could  not  bring  them  again  from 
the  dust  of  death,  however  he  miglit  regret  the  loss  of  so  many 
failjjiul  subjects. 

But  would  it  not  have  been  the  duty  of  Esther  to  supplicate 


CHAP.  VI.   14 — VII.  10.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  271 

for  their  relief,  although  they  had  been  doomed  only  to  sla- 
very? Perhaps  she  might  have  seen  it  her  duty  to  do  it,  if 
this  had  really  been  the  case.  But  at  present,  her  mind  was 
so  deeply  possessed  with  the  awfulness  of  their  danger,  that 
she  thought,  if  their  misery  had  been  any  thing  else  than  what 
it  was,  she  could  have  borne  it  without  troubling  the  king 
with  her  complaint.  Thus,  a  man  racked  with  the  pains  of  a 
gravel,  thinks,  that  if  it  had  been  only  the  gout,  he  could  have 
borne  it  with  patience;  or,  if  he  finds  his  life  endangered  by  a 
sore  disease,  he  will  tell  the  physician  that  his  anxiety  is 
raised  only  by  the  dangerous  symptoms,  and  that  if  these  could 
be  removed,  he  could  easily  endure  the  pains  of  his  distemper. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  what  the  queen  desired  from 
the  king,  however  necessary  and  reasonable,  was  difficult  to  be 
granted,  because  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  could  not 
be  altered.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  assure  the  king,  that 
nothing  but  bitter  necessity  could  have  induced  her  to  give 
him  so  much  trouble.  Modest  petitioners  are  heard  with  fa- 
vour, when  impudent  beggars  are  repulsed  with  scorn. 

The  king's  interest  was  deeply  concerned  in  tliis  request  on 
other  accounts.  The  safety  of  a  prince  consists  in  the  multi- 
tude and  happiness  of  his  people.  If  the  Jews  had  been  sold 
for  slaves,  the  enemy  could  not  have  compensated  the  king's 
damage,  although  he  had  given  twice  ten  thousand  talents 
into  che  royal  treasury.  Far  less  could  he  have  compensated 
the  loss  to  be  sustained  by  the  king  in  the  destruction  of  so 
many  thousands  of  useful  and  laborious  subjects,  scattered 
throughout  every  part  of  his  empire.  Divine  Providence  has 
so  closely  connected  the  interests  of  princes  and  people,  that 
the  throne  is  established  by  righteousness  and  mercy,  and  sub- 
verted by  unrighteousness. 

Verse  5. — Then  the  king  Ahasuerus  answered  and  said  unto 
Esther  the  queen;  Who  is  he,  and  where  is  he,  that  durst  presume 
in  his  heart  to  do  so  f 

What!  to  compass  the  death  of  the  queen;  and,  as  if  that 
were  too  small  a  wickedness,  the  destruction  of  all  her  people 
alsol  Was  a  man  so  wicked  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  provinces  of  the  king's  dominions?  If 


272  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [dISO.  XI. 

tliere  were  such  a  daring  criminal  to  be  found,  no  death  was 
too  terrible  for  him. 

AVliat,  then,  will  our  Lord  do  when  he  riseth  up  to  revenge 
the  wrongs  done  to  himself  in  the  persons  of  his  brethren;  of 
iUo^Q  who  'are  espoused  to  him  in  righteousness,  and  in  judg- 
ment, and  in  loving-kindness,  and  in  mercies?'  Will  he  not 
account  the  wrongs  done  to  them  to  have  been  done  to  himself? 
AVhen  he  maketh  inquisition  for  blood,  woe  to  them  that  are 
stained  with  bloody  crimes  against  his  people!  The  wrath  of 
Ahasuerus  against  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  was  a  fruit  of 
God's  wrath  against  them.  He  forgot  not  his  promise  to  Abra- 
liam,  ^I  will  bless  him  that  blesseth  thee,  and  1  will  curse 
liini  that  curseth  thee.' 

Who  and  where  is  he  that  durst  do  this  thing  f — What  if 
Ahasuerus  himself  Is  the  man?  although  it  would  have  been 
unwise  in  the  queen  to  tell  him  that  he  was.  He  was,  cer- 
tainly, though  unconscious  of  it,  a  partner  in  this  wickedness; 
and  yet  he  was  filled  with  horror  at  hearing  that  any  person 
could  dare  to  load  himself  with  such  guilt.  Thus  David  was 
filled  with  anger  against  a  man  who  was  only  the  emblem  of 
himself;  2  Sam.  xii.  Consider  what  abhorrence  you  have  of 
the  sins  of  otlier  men,  and  consider  how  like  your  own  sins 
are  to  theirs,  and  let  your  souls  be  humbled  within  you.  Take 
care  how  you  speak  of  the  sins  of  other  men,  lest  your  tongues 
condemn  yourselves.  Your  sins  are  probably  much  liker  to 
theirs  than  you  could  imagine  till  you  have  well  considered 
tlie  matter.  Perhaps  they  are  a  great  deal  worse,  when  every 
circumstance  is  considered. 

Verse  6. — And  Esther  said,  The  adversary  and  enemy  is  this 
tricked  Ilaman.  Then  Haman  was  afraid  hefo'^^e  the  king  and 
the  fjiceen. 

Haman  now  finds  for  what  reason  he  was  invited  by  the 
queen  to  her  banquet.  It  was,  to  be  accused  to  his  face  of  the 
blackest  of  crimes.  He  had  an  opportunity  of  saying  what 
could  be  said  (if  any  thing  could  be  said)  in  his  own  vindica- 
tion, or  in  mitigation  of  his  offense.  But  if  he  had  nothing 
to  say,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  confusion  of  his  face 
would  be  a  witness  against  him. 


CHAP.  VI.  14 — Vir.  10.]      BOOK  OF   ESTHER.  273 

This  was  uctually  the  case:  ^Then  Haman  was  afraid  before 
the  king  and  the  queen.'  He  had  too  good  reason  to  tremble 
for  his  life.  The  queen  had  brought  a  dreadful  accusation 
against  him,  and  his  guilt  was  too  apparent  to  be  denied,  or  to 
be  extenuated.  And  it  was  of  a  nature  fitted  to  excite  the 
king's  fiercest  indignation,  and  bitterest  rage. 

In  what  light  did  Haman's  pride  and  greatness  now  appear 
to  him?  If  he  had  possessed  worlds,  he  would  cheerfully 
have  parted  with  them  to  have  his  former  conduct  buried  in 
oblivion.  In  all  our  conduct  let  us  have  an  eye  to  that  fu- 
ture day  which  will  assuredly  come,  when  our  behaviour  will 
appear  to  ourselves  in  its  true  light;  and  to  that  day  which 
may  come  before  we  quit  the  world,  when  it  will  be  followed 
with  its  just  consequences.  How  many  things  that  are  done 
would  be  left  undone,  if,  at  the  doing,  men  would  realise  in 
their  own  minds  what  will  be  realised  one  day  by  the  divine 
providence ! 

There  was  a  time  when  Haman  thought  that  life  was  not 
life,  unless  all  men  bowed  the  knee  to  him.  But  how  happy 
Avould  he  now  have  been  if  he  could  have  obtained  life  upon 
any  terms!  What  did  all  his  honaurs  formerly  avail  him, 
whilst  he  saw  the  hated  Mordecai  at  the  king's  gate?  But 
in  his  fear  he  would  gladly  have  bowed  the  knee  to  Mordecai 
as  the  price  of  life. 

Yerse  7. — And  the  king,  arising  from  the  banquet  of  wine  in 
his  lorathy  loent  into  the  palace-garden :  and  Haman  stood  up  to 
make  request  for  his  life  to  Esther  the  queen;  for  he  saiv  that  there 
was  evil  determined  against  him  by  the  king. 

The  king  was  agitated  by  his  indignation  to  a  degree  be- 
yond what  we  can  well  conceive.  The  angry  passions  rage  in 
the  breasts  of  men,  in  proportion  to  the  seaise  they  have  of 
their  own  dignity,  of  the  insults  they  apprehend  to  be  offered 
to  them,  and  of  the  obligations  violated  by  the  offender. 
Ahasuerus  was  so  great  a  king,  that  he  would  think  the  small- 
est offense  against  himself  almost  unpardonable;  but  an  at- 
tempt to  destroy  his  beloved  queen  was  the  greatest  of  all 
crimes,  next  t6  an  attempt  upon  his  own  life.  How  unpar- 
donable did  this  crime  appear  in  one  whom  he  had  loved,  and 
18 


274  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XI. 

trusted,  and  honoured  above  all  his  subjects !  No  punishment 
which  his  power  could  inflict,  appeared  to  him  equal  to  a  crime 
so  atrocious.  And  yet  this  was  not  the  worst  of  the  matter. 
Hanian,  by  his  artifice,  had  drawn  his  master  into  partnei-ship 
of  his  own  crimes.  It  is  propable  that  Ahasuerus  now  saw, 
that  Ilaman's  guilt  was  the  decree  obtained  against  the  Jews^ 
passed  by  the  consent  and  authority  of  Ahasuerus  himself. 
For  how  could  Haman,  without  such  authority,  destroy  a 
wliole  nation  of  the  king's  subjects?  His  wrath  must  have 
burnt  like  a  furnace,  when  he  considered  how  he  had  been  be- 
trayed into  a  decree  so  absurd,  so  wicked,  so  infamous,  that 
might  have  proved  so  fatal  to  the  wife  of  his  bosom,  and  to  all 
her  kindred. 

Ahasuerus  could  not  keep  his  seat.  He  could  not  bear  the 
si^iit  of  Haman.  He  ran  to  the  garden,  not  to  give  his  wrath 
time  to  cool,  but  to  give  it  time  to  devise  proper  means  for 
executing  all  the  furiousness  of  its  rage  upon  a  man  whom  he 
had  devoted  to  destruction.  While  Haman  was  already  suffer- 
ing for  his  wickedness  by  the  terrors  that  tormented  his  heart, 
Ahasuerus  himself  suffered  some  part  of  what  his  rashness  de- 
served, by  the  fiery  indignation  that  raged  in  his  bowels.  How 
miserable  is  it  to  feel  the  torments  which  either  of  these  pas- 
sions inflict,  when  they  obtain  dominion  over  the  soul ! 

Hainan  wished  still  to  live,  though  in  disgrace;  and  made 
>uitj)]ication  for  his  life  to  a  woman  w^hom  he  had  offended 
l)ey()nd  hopes  of  forgiveness.  Although  it  was  her  duty  to 
forgive  him  so  as  to  wish  well  to  his  soul,  it  was  not  her  duty 
to  desire  his  pardon  from  the  king,  after  he  had  involved  him- 
jself  80  deeply  in  the  guilt  of  blood.  Or,  if  she  had  interceded 
for  his  life,  it  was  not  to  be  hoped  that  the  king  would  spare 
the  serpent  that  had  almost  stung  the  wife  of  his  bosom  to 
death.  The  case  was  hopeless;  but  drowning  men  will  grasp 
at  straws  or  shadows,  when  they  can  find  no  better  supports. 

The  wicked  now  *  bows  before  the  righteous;'  and  Haman 
was  not  the  first,  nor  will  he  be  the  last,  of  the  enemies  of 
God's  people,  that  shall  be  made  to  'bow  before  them,  and  to 
lick  the  dust  of  their  feet;'  Isa.  xlix.  23:  Rev.  iii.  9. 

Verse  S.—  Then  the  king  returned  out  of  the  palace-garden, 


CHAP.  VT.  14 — VII.  10.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  275 

into  the  plac-e  of  the  banquet  of  wine;  and  Ilaman  was  fallen 
upon  the  bed  whereon  Esther  was.  Then  said  the  Icing ^  Will  he 
force  the  queen  also  before  me  in  the  house f  As  the  word  went 
out  of  the  hing\  mouthy  they  covered  Ilaman' s  face. 

When  men  are  enraged,  neither  their  thoughts  agree  with 
facts,  nor  do  their  words  agree  with  their  thoughts.  Hainan 
could  not  well  be  thought  a  worse  man  than  he  was,  and  yet 
the  king  was  disposed  to  put  a  worse  construction  upon  his 
conduct  than  it  deserved.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  supposed, 
that  the  king  really  thought  he  meant  to  force  Esther  before 
him  in  the  house.  Anger  is  a  short  madness ;  and  the  words 
of  an  angry  man  are  like  ^  the  speeches  of  one  that  is  desperate, 
which  are  as  wind.'  If  we  desire,  therefore,  to  behave  uni- 
formly like  wise  men  and  like  Christians,  we  must  keep  our 
mouths  as  with  a  bridle  when  our  hearts  are  hot  within  us ; 
and  we  must  keep  our  hearts  with  all  diligence,  that  our  pas- 
sions may  not  overpower  our  reason. 

It  is  likewise  necessary  for  us  to  beware  of  all  irritating  be- 
haviour, that  we  may  not  kindle  up  fierce  passions  in  the 
breasts  of  other  men.  If  they  should  think,  or  speak,  or  act 
unreasonably,  when  we  have  strongly  tempted  them  to  be  an- 
gry, a  share  of  the  blame  belongs  to  us;  and  if  we  condemn 
their  fury,  we  should  condemn  ourselves  as  sharers  of  the  guilt. 
Surely  the  king  could  not  imagine  in  good  earnest  that  Ha- 
man  meant  to  force  the  queen  in  his  presence;  yet  Ilaman,  by 
snares  laid  for  her  life,  gave  the  king  too  good  reason  to  sus- 
pect him  of  every  thing  wicked. 

The  king's  fury  drove  him  from  the  palace  to  the  garden, 
and  from  the  garden  to  the  palace.  It  had  the  entire  govern- 
ment of  his  thoughts,  of  his  temper,  and  of  his  actions.  A 
petition  from  any  of  the  king's  servants,  or  from  Esther  her- 
self, at  this  time,  in  favour  of  Haman,  would  rather  have  in- 
creased than  abated  his  fury.  But,  indeed,  Haman  had  no 
friends  in  the  king's  house  to  take  his  part.  Some  of  the  king's 
servants  covered  his  face,  and  others  of  them  brought  in  new 
reports  to  his  disadvantage.  A  proud  man  may  be  flattered, 
but  he  cannot  be  loved.     AVhen  he  falls  from  prosperity  into 


276  DISCOURSES   ox   THE  [dISC.  XI. 

adversity,  he  begins  to  know  what  sentiments  are  entertained 
concerning  him. 

WhiL^t  he  .^jiokr  these  icords,  they  covered Haman^ s  face ;  which 
tlie  king  could  not  now  behold  without  detestation.  The  faces 
of  the  condemned  used  to  be  covered;  and  sentence  of  death 
had  already  been  i)assed  against  tliis  wicked  man.  What  a 
miserable  change  did  a  single  hour  produce !  How  justly  may 
the  words  of  Bildad  concerning  the  wicked  be  applied  to  this 
wretched  man  ! — 'Yea,  the  light  of  the  v/icked  shall  be  put  out, 
and  the  spark  of  his  fire  shall  not  shine.  The  light  shall  be 
dark  in  his  tabernacle,  and  his  candle  shall  be  put  out  with 
him.  The  steps  of  his  strength  shall  be  straitened,  and  his 
own  counsel  shall  cast  him  down.  For  he  is  cast  into  a  net 
])y  his  own  ivQt,  and  he  walketh  u])on  a  snare;  Job  xviii.  5-8. 

Verse  i). — And  Harbonah,  one  of  the  chamberlains,  said  be- 
fore the  king;  Behold  also  the  galloioSy  fifty  cubits  hi(/h,  lohich  Ha- 
inan had  made  for  llordecai,  icho  had  spoken  good  for  the  king, 
standeth  in  the  house  of  Haman.  Then  the  king  said,  Hang  him 
thereon. 

New  charges  are  produced  against  Haman,  when  it  was  seen 
tiiat  the  king  was  no  longer  his  friend.  Had  Haman  taken 
care  to  gain  the  h)ve  of  his  inferiors  during  the  time  of  his 
greatness,  he  might  have  found  some  few,  perhaps,  that  would 
liave  expressed  their  gratitude  when  he  fell ;  and  not  many 
would  have  assisted  in  pushing  him  lower.  But  his  misery 
was,  that  he  trusted  in  the  multitude  of  his  riches,  and  in  the 
favour  of  the  king.  When  the  king  was  his  enemy,  all  men 
were  his  enemies;  and  he  had  given  abundant  occasion  to  com- 
ph'te  his  destruction.  His  own  hands  had  made  the  cords 
with  which  he  was  now  girded  and  strangled. 

Jlaihonah  told  the  king  of  the  gallows  that  Haman  had 
erected  for  Mordecai,  fifty  cubits  high.  Here  was  an  instance 
of  his  intolerable  i)resumption,  that  he  had  built  this  gallows 
without  the  king's  previous  knowledge.  But  what  was  sure 
to  inflame  the  king's  revenge  beyond  measure  was,  that  the 
servant  of  the  king,  for  whom  the  gallows  was  prepared,  was 
the  very  man  to  whom  the  king  owed  his  life  when  it  was  en- 
dangered by  two  wicked  conspirators.     It  looked  as  if  Haman 


CHAP.  VI.  14 — VII.  10.]      BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  277 

had  been  in  a  confederacy  with  these  men,  and  wislied  to  re- 
ven2:e  their  death. 

Then  the  king  said,  Hang  him  thereon. — The  king  was  im- 
patient to  have  such  a  viper  crushed,  and  removed  out  of  his 
sight.  He  had  been  considering  with  himself,  perhaps,  by 
what  means  he  might  chase  him  out  of  the  world,  so  as  best 
to  express  his  own  detestation  of  his  conduct,  and  load  him 
Avith  ijrnominv.  The  words  of  Harbonah  decided  the  busi- 
ness.  What  can  be  more  ignominious  for  him  than  to  be 
hanged  on  a  gallows  higher  than  most  of  the  houses  of  the 
city;  on  a  gallows  constructed  by  himself  for  one  of  the  king's 
friends;  and  on  the  very  day  on  which  Haman  hoped  to  have 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mordecai  hanging  on  it  till  he 
died! — 'Hang  him  thereon.' 

Verse  10. — So  they  hanged  Haman  on  the  gallows  that  he  had 
prepared  f 07'  Mordecai.     Then  ivas  the  hinges  torath  2JaciJied. 

There  is  no  law  more  just,  says  an  ancient  author,  than  that 
the  contrivers  of  destruction  should  perish  by  their  own  con- 
trivances. Who  pities  Haman  hanged  on  his  own  gallows? 
Who  does  not  rather  rejoice  in  the  divine  righteousness,  dis- 
played in  that  destruction  which  his  own  art  brought  upon 
him?  In  his  dismal  end,  how  fully  verified  are  the  words  of 
David!  'He  (the  Lord)  ordaineth  his  arrows  against  the  per- 
secutors. He  hath  made  a  pit,  and  digged  it;  and  he  is  fallen 
into  the  ditch  which  he  hath  made:  his  mischief  shall  return 
upon  his  own  head,  and  his  violent  dealing  shall  come  down 
upon  his  own  pate.  I  will  praise  the  Lord  according  to  his 
righteousness;  Psalm  vii.  13-17. 

Let  the  workers  of  iniquity  tremble,  and  turn  to  the  Lord, 
and  seek  pardon  through  the  blood  of  Jesus.  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  a  persecutor,  who  sought  the  utter  destruction  of  the  Israel 
of  God ;  and  yet  he  obtained  mercy,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
was  abundant  to  him.  'But  the  Lord  shall  wound  the  head 
of  the  wicked,  the  hairy  scalp  of  him  that  goeth  on  still  in  his 
trespasses.' 

Let  not  the  children  of  Zion  despair,  when  their  enemies  are 
successful,  and  no  hope  seems  to  be  left  them.  God  kiiows 
how  to  find  expedients  in  desperate  circumstances,  and  to  turn 


278  DISCOURSES   ox    TPIE  [diSC.  XL 

ilio  blackest  darkness  into  light.  He  knows  how  to  bring 
upon  the  head  of  his  enemies  that  destruction  wdiich  they  pre- 
pare lor  his  own  people,  and  to  save  them  that  love  him  from 
the  greatest  deaths. 

The  king's  wrath  was  never  pacified  till  Haman  received 
the  punishment  which  he  so  justly  deserved.  Then  his  mind 
enjoved  some  ease  when  he  heard  that  Haman  was  hanged  on 
his  own  gallows.  But  he  soon  found  that  much  yet  remained 
for  him  to  do,  to  put  away  the  mischief  of  Haman  the  Agagite. 
'  When  the  wicked  perish,  there  is  shouting;'  but  their  wicked- 
ness may  outlive  them,  and  cause  much  distress  and  toil  when 
thev  are  trone  to  receive  their  reward. 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  279 


DISCOURSE  XII. 


MORDFX'AI  IS  ADVANCED  TO  GREAT  HONOURS— LIBERTY  IS  PROCURED 

FOR   THE  JEWS  TO  DEFEND   THEMSELVES  AGAINST  THE  INTENDED 

MASSACRE. 

CHAPTER  Vlir.  1-14. 

Verses  1,  2. — On  that  day  did  the  king  Ahasuerus  give  the 
house  of  Haman,  the  Jews'  enemy,  unto  Esther  the  queen.  And 
Mordecai  came  before  the  king:  for  Esther  had  told  what  he  was 
unto  her.  And  the  king  took  off  his  ring,  which  he  had  taken  from 
Hamanj  and  gave  it  unto  Mordecai.  And  Esther  set  Mordecai 
over  the  house  of  Haman. 

Be  not  solicitous  about  treasuring  up  the  riches  of  this  world. 
What  you  can  gain  is  to-day  yours,  to-morrow  you  know  not 
whose  it  shall  be.  Should  it  fall  into  the  hands  of  your  chil- 
dren after  you,  you  know  not  whether  they  will  be  wise  men 
or  fools;  whether  they  will  be  losers  or  gainers  by  the  pos- 
session of  it.  Nay,  you  know  not  whether  it  may  not  fall  into 
the  hands  of  your  most  abhorred  enemies.  This  is  often  the 
fate  of  ill-gotten  riches.  'The  wealth  of  the  sinner  is  laid  up 
for  the  just.'  With  what  vexation  would  Haman  have  thought 
of  that  wealth  in  which  he  gloried,  if  he  had  foreseen  that  it 
was  to  be  possessed  by  a  Jewess  !  Would  he  not  rather  have 
chosen  to  live  a  beggar  all  his  days,  than  leave  his  wealth  to 
persons  whom  he  so  mortally  hated? 

The  queen  was  enriched  beyond  her  expectations  and  wishes. 
Yet  the  wealth  bestowed  upon  her  would  enable  her  to  per- 
form important  services  to  her  beloved  nation.  The  donation 
of  it  by  the  king,  to  whom  it  was  forfeited,  was  a  testimony 
of  his  affection,  to  wliich  she  still  must  have  recourse,  with  new 


280  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [dISC.  XII. 

petitions  for  her  people.  Above  all,  this  donation  was  a  re- 
markable testimony  of  the  kindness  and  justice  of  the  divine 
j)rovidcnce,  which  put  into  her  hands  that  immense  wealth  of 
the  enemy  of  her  nation,  by  which  he  would  have  bribed  the 
king,  if  a  bribe  had  been  necessary  to  procure  their  destruction. 
The  Lord  had  already  not  only  wrought  deliverance  for  her, 
but  had  given  her  an  accession  of  riches  out  of  the  snares  that 
had  been  laid  for  her  kinsman  ;  and  she  was  thereby  encour- 
aged to  hope,  that  he  would  bring  to  a  happy  conclusion  that 
great  work  that  occupied  her  mind. 

Her  kinsman,  too,  was  highly  advanced,  both  on  her  account 
and  his  own.  The  king  had  formerly  caused  his  favour  for 
^lordecai  to  be  proclaimed  through  the  city  of  Shushan ;  but 
now  he  loaded  him  with  real  and  substantial  honours,  which 
would  put  him  into  a  proper  condition  for  protecting  his  nation, 
exposed  to  danger  for  his  sake. 

It  was  now  the  fifth  year  since  the  adopted  daughter  of  Mor- 
decai  was  seated  upon  an  imj^erlal  throne,  and  hitherto  it  w^as 
not  known  that  he  stood  in  any  relation  to  the  queen,  or  had 
showed  to  her  the  kindness  of  a  father. 

The  king  must,  surely,  at  least  have  condemned  his  own 
thoughtlessness  in  inquiring  so  little  after  Esther's  friends.  He 
now  discerned,  that  besides  his  unrequited  obligations  to  Mor- 
decai  for  saving  his  life,  he  owed  to  him  likewise  the  graces  and 
accomplishments  of  his  queen,  and  almost  her  life;  for  he  had 
been  to  her  a  second  father,  without  whose  kind  care  none 
knows  what  might  have  befallen  her  in  her  tender  years. 

It  would  be,  likewise,  a  powerful  recommendation  of  Mor- 
decai,  that  he  had  hitherto  lived  quietly  in  a  low  station,  with- 
out so  much  as  mentioning  his  claims  to  preferment.  It  ap- 
peared plainly  that  he  was  more  careful  to  deserve  the  king's 
favour  tlian  to  enjoy  it,  and  that  greatness  had  no  charms  but 
ih."  opportunities  it  might  give  him  of  doing  good,  or  pre- 
ventin^r  evil.  Those  are  fittest  for  high  stations  that  are  best 
satisfied  with  any  station  in  which  Providence  is  pleased  to 
put  then). 

The  king  put  Mordecai  into  Haman's  place;  and  the  queen, 
who  now  thought  it  highly  expedient  to  inform   the  kincr  or 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.1  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  281 

Mordecai's  kindness  and  relation  to  her,  did  likewise  make 
him  her  steward.  To  her  dying  day  she  forgot  not  the  kind- 
ness showed  to  her  in  the  days  of  her  youth,  and  behaved  as 
the  best  of  daughters  to  the  best  of  fathers. 

Gratitude  to  benefactors  is  essential  to  a  virtuous  character. 
If  you  call  a  man  ungrateful,  you  need  say  nothing  more  of 
him,  you  have  already  said  every  thing  that  is  bad;  nor  will 
the  highest  elevation  excuse  forgetfulness  of  benefits  received 
in  a  lower  condition.  The  blessed  Jesus,  exalted  above  men 
and  anffels,  forojets  none  of  the  kindnesses  shown  to  him  in  the 
persons  of  his  brethren  in  a  low  condition  upon  earth;  but 
what  is  done  to  the  least  of  them  is  rewarded  as  if  it  had  been 
done  to  Himself.  We  need  not  envy  those  women  who  min- 
istered to  him  of  their  substance  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation 
the  glorious  rewards  bestowed  upon  them  in  his  state  of  ex- 
altation. We  still  have  it  in  our  power  to  feed  Him  when  he 
is  hungry,  to  give  Him  drink  when  he  is  thirsty,  to  clothe  Him 
when  he  is  naked;  and  He  will  not  be  unrighteous  to  forget 
our  works  and  labours  of  love  to  His  name.  Did  Esther  in  her 
royal  condition  retain  such  a  kind  remembrance  of  the  friends 
of  her  low  estate,  and  shall  we  doubt  of  the  infinitely  superior 
virtues  of  him  who  is  the  fairest  among  the  children  of  men; 
to  the  operftion  of  whose  Spirit  we  owe  every  thing  that  is 
lovely  in  our  temper  and  conduct? 

Esther,  on  the  throne,  retained  the  kindness  of  her  youth, 
not  only  to  Mordecai,  but  to  all  her  friends  and  all  her  people. 

Verse  3. — And  Esther  spake  yet  again  before  the  king,  and 
fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  besought  him  with  tears  to  put  away  tJie 
mischief  of  Haman  the  Agagite,  and  his  device  that  he  had  devised 
against  the  Jews. 

Esther  now  appeared  to  be  in  a  very  safe  condition,  and  her 
friend  Mordecai  had  little  reason  to  be  apprehensive  for  his 
life,  when  he  was  honoured  to  be  the  king's  favourite;  but 
neither  of  them  thought  themselves  safe  or  happy  till  their 
brethren  and  people  were  placed  in  a  like  condition.  They 
would  have  rather  chosen,  if  it  had  been  the  will  of  God,  to 
perish,  if  their  people  could  obtain  deliverance  and  enlarge- 
ment, than  to  live  and  sec  the  misery  threatened  fall  upon 


282  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  XIT. 

them.  Esther,  therefore,  again  ventures  to  trouble  the  king 
with  herTequcsts.  She  falls  clown  before  him.  She  weeps 
and  makes  supplication  with  floods  of  tears  for  her  people. 
Happy  were  they  in  such  an  intercessor.  Her  beauty,  hei 
tears,  the  strong  emotions  of  her  heart  apparent  in  her  gestures, 
the  amiable  virtues  which  shone  forth  in  her  generous  concern 
for  her  poor  friends,  were  sufficient  to  have  melted  the  most 
raarble-hearted  prince  in  the  world.  The  humane  Ahasuerus 
could  not  stand  out  against  such  forcible  and  pleasing  impor- 
tunities. He  was  requested  to  do  what  might  expose  him  to 
difficulties  and  dangers;  for  the  fundamental  laws  of  Persia 
deprived  him  of  the  power  of  abrogating  his  own  laws.  But 
what  he  could  do  he  would  doubtless  perform,  at  such  impor- 
tunities of  such  a  suppliant. 

Although  Esther  had  wept  and  made  supplication  to  God 
for  her  people,  she  did  not  reckon  that  she  had  done  what  was 
incumbent  on  her,  without  weeping  and  supplicating  the  king 
likewise,  at  the  risk  not  only  of  displeasing  him,  but  of  her 
liead.  When  she  had  by  her  supplications  made  some  progress 
in  the  important  business,  she  wept  and  supplicated  the  king 
a  second  time,  till  she  obtained  all  that  could  be  obtained  for 
her  people.  It  is  not  enough  to  begin  a  good  work,  but  we 
ought  to  hold  on  till  it  be  completed,  although  great  difficulties 
meet  us  in  the  face,  which  it  may  appear  almost  impossible 
to  surmount.  When  we  stop  short  before  we  have  finished 
what  we  were  called  to  perform,  may  we  not  be  confounded 
by  that  question,  *  Ye  did  run  well,  who  did  hinder  you?  Arc 
ye  so  foolish,  having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  to  end  in  the  flesh?' 

The  queen  solicits  the  king  to  undo  the  mischief  of  Haman. 
The  king  himself  might,  with  too  good  reason,  have  been  im- 
plicated with  Haman.  He  was  under  obligations,  from  strict 
justice,  to  put  away  the  mischief  which  could  not  be  done 
without  his  r,wn  consent.  But  the  queen  wisely  overlooked 
this  important  consideration,  and  chose  rather  to  address  her- 
self to  the  king's  mercy  than  to  his  justice.  'Grievous  words 
stir  up  anger;  soft  words  turn  away  (or  prevent)  wrath.*  It 
was,  indeed,  highly  proper  that  the  king  should  be  sensible 
of  his  own  part  in  the  wrong  done  to  the  Jews;  but  his  own 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  283 

conscience  would  not  fail  to  perform  that  office,  and  probably 
it  operated  the  more  powerfully  in  him,  that  the  Jews  them- 
selves kept  silence.  We  feel  most  powerfully  the  injuries  that 
we  have  done,  when  those  to  whom  they  are  done  show  little 
disposition  to  complain. 

Verse  4. — Then  the  king  held  out  the  golden  sceptre  toward 
Esther: — 

She  would  now  venture  with  greater  boldness  than  before 
to  go  in  before  the  king,  for  she  was  assured  of  his  favour. 
When  we  know  that  we  are  beloved  by  superiors,  we  can  go 
to  them  with  boldness  to  ask  any  reasonable  favour;  yet  so 
variable  are  the  tempers  of  men,  that  we  may  be  sometimes  de- 
ceived in  our  hopes. 

Esther  was  not,  at  this  time,  ashamed  of  her  hope  of  the 
favour  of  Ahasuerus.  God  himself  was  her  hope,  and  he  in- 
clined the  king's  heart  to  favour  her. 

Verses  4,  5. — So  Esther  arose,  and  stood  before  the  hing,  and 
said,  If  it  please  the  king,  and  if  I  have  found  favour  in  his  sight, 
and  the  thing  seem  right  before  the  king,  and  I  be  pleasing  in  his 
eyes,  let  it  be  written  to  reverse  the  letters  devised  by  Haman  the 
son  of  Hammcdatha  the  Agagite,  which  he  wrote  to  destroy  the 
Jews,  which  are  in  all  the  king's  provinces: 

Observe  with  what  humility  and  modesty,  yet  earnest  im- 
portunity, she  presents  her  request  to  the  king.  Esther  was 
well  furnished  with  those  amiable  qualities  which  must  en- 
dear a  wife  to  her  husband,  and  obtain  from  him  every  reason- 
able request.  Pride  and  petulance  can  obtain  nothing  without 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  him  that  grants.  Humility  and  sub- 
mission are  the  weapons  by  which  a  wise  woman  will  encounter 
opposition  in  her  husband,  and  the  means  by  which  she  will 
obtain  what  can  be  obtained  by  any  methods  fit  to  be  used  by 
a  wife. 

If  Esther  had  any  interest  in  the  king's  favour,  the  great 
use  she  desires  to  make  of  it  is  for  the  preservation  of  her  peo- 
ple from  the  mischief  devised  by  Haman.  Patriotism  and 
piety  were  shining  ornaments  of  this  princess.  She  desired 
not  o-reat  thing's  for  herself.  She  was  well  satisfied  with  lier 
own  condition,  if  she  could  but  see  peace  on  Israel ;  for  Jerusu- 


284  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XII. 

Icm  was  near  to  her  heart,  and  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  God 
was  dearer  to  her  than  either  grandeur  or  life. 

Verse  G. — For  how  can  I  endure  to  see  the  evil  that  shall  come 
unto  my  jKoplef  or  how  can  I  endure  to  see  the  destruction  of  my 
kindred/ 

Esther  was  now  the  queen  of  Persia,  but  still  the  people  of 
Israel  were  her  people  and  her  kindred.  Let  a  true  fearer  of 
God  be  placed  ever  so  comfortably  among  the  sons  of  men,  still 
it  will  be  his  leading  desire  to  ^see  the  good  of  God's  chosen, 
to  rejoice  in  their  joy,  and  to  glory  with  God's  inheritance.' 
.  The  king  had  secured  Esther's  life,  but  she  lets  him  know, 
that  the  destruction  of  the  great  enemy  of  her  people,  and  her 
security  under  the  king's  protection,  would  be  of  small  avail 
to  her,  if  her  kindred  must  perish.  Her  life  was  bound  up 
in  their  life.  If  her  heart  was  broken  and  crushed  by  their 
ruin,  what  good  could  her  life  do  her,  or  what  pleasure  could 
the  king  have  any  more  in  beholding  her  when  she  was  drowned 
in  perpetual  sorrows? 

There  was  a  consideration  that  endeared  the  people  of  Israel 
to  the  queen  still  more  than  their  relation  to  herself.  They 
were  the  people  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel.  Esther 
did  not  til  ink  fit  to  mention  this  motive  of  her  tender  reo^ard 
to  her  people  when  she  was  presenting  her  supplications  to 
the  king,  because  he  could  not  have  felt  the  force  of  it.  Thus 
Nehemiah,  in  his  supplication  to  the  king  for  Jerusalem,  does 
not  speak  of  it  as  the  centre  of  the  Jewish  religion,  as  the  city 
of  the  God  of  Israel,  but  as  the  place  of  his  fathers'  sepulchres. 
The  king  could  easily  understand  the  interest  that  his  cup- 
bearer must  take  in  the  place  of  his  fathers'  sepulchres;  but 
he  knew  nothing  of  that  delight  which  good  men  take  in  Hhe 
liabitation  of  God's  house,  in  the  place  where  his  honour 
dwelleth.' 

\  erse  7. — Then  the  king  Ahasuerus  said  unto  Esther  the  queen, 
and  to  Mordemi  the  Jew,  Behold,  I  have  given  Esther  the  house 
of  llaman,  and  him  they  have  hanged  upon  the  gallows,  because 
hr,  laid  his  hand  upon  the  Jews. 

Tiieking  could  not  grant  to  Esther  everything  that  she 
requested.     But  he  assures  iier,  that  it  was  n  )t  for  want  of 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  285 

good  will,  either  to  herself  or  to  her  people,  that  he  did  not 
in  direct  terms  reverse  the  decree  procured  by  Haman.  Ills 
love  to  Esther  appeared  in  the  rich  present  of  the  confiscated 
estate  of  Haman.  His  good  wishes  to  her  people  appeared  in 
the  ignominious  death  of  their  capital  enemy.  But  kings  can- 
not do  every  thing.  The  most  noble  and  potent  prince  in  the 
world  had  not  the  power  of  rescinding  his  own  decrees,  how- 
ever desirous  he  might  be  of  undoing  foolish  things  done  by 
himself. 

Verse  8. —  Write  ye  also  for  the  Jews,  as  it  llheth  you,  in  the 
hinges  name,  and  seal  it  with  the  hinges  ring:  for  the  writing  which 
is  written  in  the  hinges  name,  and  sealed  loith  the  hinges  ring,  may 
no  man  reverse. 

The  king  himself  could  not  reverse  it;  and  therefore  we 
find  that  Darius  the  Mede  laboured  in  vain  till  the  going  down 
of  the  sun,  to  save  Daniel  from  the  lion's  den,  and  passed  a 
miserable  sleepless  night  in  the  anguish  of  a  fruitless  repent- 
ance, for  passing  a  mischievous  law,  which  he  could  not  abol- 
ish. The  Persians  thought  their  kings  highly  honoured  in 
that  law  by  which  their  decrees  were  made  inviolable.  But 
this  honour,  like  some  others  enjoyed  by  absolute  princes,  was 
a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne  by  mortals.  It  precluded  them 
from  the  comforts  of  repentance,  too  often  necessary  for  vain 
men,  who,  though  they  would  be  wise,  are  born  like  the  wild 
ass's  colt. 

The  king,  therefore,  could  not  give  Esther  and  Mordecai  a 
warrant  to  pass  an  act  rescissory  of  his  own  decrees  against  the 
Jews.  But  he  allows  them  to  frame  a  decree  in  his  name,  and 
to  seal  it  with  his  ring,  for  counteracting  its  effects.  As  the 
first  decree  retained  its  force,  the  king  could  not  legally  pun- 
ish those  wicked  enemies  of  the  Jews  who  might  take  the  ad- 
vantage of  it  to  gratify  their  malice.  Their  murders  were  al- 
ready legalized  by  a  decree  that  could  not  be  altered.  But  a 
law  for  the  protection  of  the  Jews,  which  did  not  rescind  the 
former,  might  possibly  be  devised  by  the  wisdom  of  Mordecai; 
and  to  establish  such  a  law,  the  king  gave  him  his  ring.  He 
had  been  too  ready  on  the  former  occasion  to  lend  his  au- 
thority; but  now  he  commits  it  to  a  safe  hand,  and  under 


c)^Q  DlSCOUFvSES   OX   THE  [DISC.  XII. 

necessary  restrictions.  He  gave  his  ring  to  Haman,  to  seal  a 
bloody  decree;  he  now  gives  it  to  Mordecai,  to  seal  a  just  and 
necessary  decree  for  the  preservation  of  many  precious  lives. 
Tlie  inviolability  of  the  king's  decrees,  which  gave  him  so 
much  trouble  by  guarding  the  wicked  laws  procured  by  Ha- 
man, would  guard  the  intended  decree  from  violation. 

Verses  9,  10,  11. —  Then  iccre  the  king^s  scribes  called  at  tliat 
time,  in  the  third  month,  {that  is,  the  month  Sivan,)  on  the  three 
and  twentieth  day  thereof;  and  it  was  ivritten,  according  to  all 
that  Mordccai  commanded,  unto  the  Jews,  and  to  the  lieutenants, 
and  to  the  deputies  and  rulers  of  the  provinces,  which  are  from 
India  unto  Ethiopia,  an  hundred  twenty  and  seven  provinces,  unto 
every  province  according  to  the  writing  thereof,  and  unto  every 
people  after  their  language,  and  to  the  Jews  according  to  their 
writing,  and  according  to  their  language.  And  he  ivrote  in  the 
king  Ahasuerus^s  name,  and  sealed  it  ivith  the  king's  ring,  and 
sent  letters  by  posts  on  horseback,  and  riders  on  mules,  camels,  and 
young  dromedaries:  Wherein  the  king  granted  the  Jews  which 
iccre  in  every  city,  to  gather  themselves  together,  and  to  stand  for 
their  life,  to  destroy,  to  slay,  and  to  cause  to  perish,  all  the  power 
of  the  people  and  pjrovince  that  loould  assault  them,  both  little  ones 
and  women,  and  to  take  the  spoil  of  them  for  a  prey: 

Glad  would  Mordecai  and  Esther  have  been,  could  they 
have  written  to  all  the  provinces  letters  in  the  king's  name, 
recalling  the  permission  given  to  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  to 
destroy  them.  But  this  the  laws  of  Persia  would  not  permit. 
What,  therefore,  must  be  done  to  save  the  devoted  nation? 
They  are  permitted  by  a  new  decree  to  defend  themselves,  and 
to  destroy  their  enemies.  This,  it  might  be  hoped,  would  have 
much  the  same  effect  as  a  decree  repealing  the  bloody  decree 
pas.sed  against  the  Jews.  When  it  was  known  that  the  queen 
and  the  prime  minister  were  Jews,  and  that  the  king  favoured 
their  cause,  it  might  have  been  presumed  that  few  would  be 
l><)ld  enough  to  attack  them;  which  would  be,  by  the  new  edict, 
to  rush  upon  their  own  destruction,  and  to  expose  the  lives  of 
their  wives  and  eliildren,  as  well  as  their  own.  Some,  indeed, 
iiii.i^lit  eiitcriaiii  such  deep-rooted  malice  against  the  Jews,  as 
to  take  advantage  of  the  former  edict;  but  the  fault  was  their 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  287 

own,  the  risk  was  chiefly  their  own ;  nor  could  any  thing  be 
done  by  Mordecai  or  Esther  to  prevent  the  mischief.  It  was 
to  be  attributed,  not  to  them,  but,  in  the  first  place,  to  the 
king's  former  rashness  in  gratifying  the  bloody  enemy  of  the 
Jews ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  that  fundamental,  but  ab- 
surd law  of  the  empire,  that  the  king's  edicts,  whether  good 
or  bad,  could  not  be  repealed.  If  men  will  presume  to  claim 
the  prerogative  of  immutability  in  their  counsels,  let  them 
take  the  consequences.  Men  are  never  more  foolish  than  when 
they  aiFect  the  perfection  of  wisdom. 

We  regret  that  permission  was  given  in  this  edict  to  the 
Jews  to  destroy  the  wives  and  children  of  their  enemies  that 
might  rise  up  against  them.  But  the  manners  of  ancient  times 
are  to  have  some  allowance  made  for  them.  Jesus,  the  light 
of  the  world,  had  not  yet  humanized  the  nations  by  the  light 
of  his  gospel.  Besides,  it  was  natural  to  think,  that  this  per- 
mission to  the  Jews  would  be  a  means  of  preventing  the  effu- 
sion of  blood ;  because  many  who  will  risk  their  own  lives, 
will  neither  risk  the  lives  of  their  wives,  nor  of  their  children, 
to  gratify  their  passions.  Hetaliations  in  war  sometimes  in- 
volve the  destruction  of  innocent  persons,  and  yet  are  thought 
necessary  to  prevent  greater  mischief.  But  we  are  not  bound 
to  justify  all  that  may  be  done  by  good  men,  or  every  circum- 
stance of  good  actions.  Mordecai  and  Esther  might  err,  but 
their  errors  were  not  voluntary.  It  was  their  desire  to  pre- 
vent, and  not  to  promote,  the  shedding  of  innocent  blood. 

The  decree  which  they  framed  was  sent  to  every  nation  of 
the  empire  in  its  own  language.  All  wise  lawgivers  will  ad- 
dress their  subjects  in  a  language  they  understand.  God  him- 
self wrote  the  great  things  of  his  ancient  law  in  the  language 
of  his  chosen  people;  and  the  laws  and  doctrines  of  Christianity 
were  communicated  to  the  world  in  the  language  then  most 
generally  understood.  It  is  better  to  speak  five  words  in  a 
known  tongue,  than  ten  thousand  in  an  unknow^n  language. 
Mordecai  would  have  shown  little  regard  to  the  life  and  com- 
fort of  his  brethren,  if  he  had  not  caused  the  decree  to  be 
translated  into  the  languages  of  tlie  different  provinces.  Those 
preachers  of  the  gospel  discover  as  little  regard  to  the  eternal 


288  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XII. 

life  of  their  hearers,  who  do  not  use  great  plainness  of  speech, 
in  showing  unto  them  the  way  of  salvation.  Obscurity  in  our 
own  language  is  not  much  less  prejudicial  than  the  use  of  an 
unknown  tongue. 

The  decree  was  no  sooner  passed,  and  translated  into  the 
different  languages,  than  copies  of  it  were  sent  through  every 
part  of  the  empire,  and  the  swiftest  methods  of  conveyance 
were  used.  Mordecai  and  Esther  had  sufficient  time  to  give 
ficasonable  intimation  of  the  new  decree  to  the  Jews  and  to 
their  enemies.  Yet,  considering  the  distance  of  some  prov- 
inces, the  possibility  of  untoward  accidents,  and  the  advantage 
of  early  information,  they  had  no  time  to  lose.  Why  should 
that  be  deferred  till  another  day,  which  may  be  better  and 
more  safely  done  at  present?  How  many  have  lost  the  sea- 
son of  good  works,  or  the  benefits  expected  from  them,  by  de- 
ferring them !  How  many  by  delays  have  lost  their  precious 
souls!  Eccles.  ix.  10.  But  in  the  present  case,  the  greatest 
possible  expedition  was  likewise  requisite,  for  the  comfort  of 
the  trembling  Jews.  Let  us  not  leave  those  persons  under  the 
power  of  despondency  a  single  hour,  wdiom  we  may  cheer  by 
happy  tidings,  or  by  other  effectual  methods  of  consolation. 
If  happiness  is  preferred  by  ourselves  to  misery,  we  do  not  to 
others  what  we  wish  them  to  do  to  us,  if  we  suffer  them  to 
languish  under  heaviness  of  heart,  when  we  may,  by  a  good 
word,  make  them  glad. 

Verse  12. —  Upon  one  day,  in  all  the  provinces  of  king  Aha- 
8ueru8,  namely,  upon  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  which 
is  the  month  Adar. 

The  day  was  fixed  by  Haman,  but  the  disposing  of  the  lot 
by  which  he  fixed  that  day  was  evidently  of  the  Lord.  The 
lateness  of  the  lime  gave  sufficient  opportunities  for  spreading 
the  new  edict,  by  which  the  day  intended  for  the  destruction 
of  tiie  Jews  became  a  day  of  destruction  to  their  enemies. 

Verse  13. — The  cojyy  of  the  writing,  for  a  commandment  to  be 
given  in  every  province,  was  publisJied  unto  all  people,  and  that 
the  Jews  should  be  ready  against  that  day  to  avenge  themselves  on 
their  enemies. 

It  was  published  to  all  people,  that  all  the  king^s  subjects 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-14.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  289 

might  know  the  real  wishes  of  the  king,  and  might  take  their 
side  accordingly,  as  they  valued  his  favour.  The  knowledge 
of  the  decree  might  make  many  friends  to  that  nation,  and, 
doubtless,  affrighted  many  of  their  enemies.  '  Where  the  word 
of  a  king  is,  there  is  power;  for  all  men  seek  the  favour  of  the 
ruler.' 

It  was  published  unto  all  people,  chiefly  as  an  alarm  to  the 
Jews,  that  they  might  prepare  themselves  to  resist  their  ene- 
mies, if  any  enemies  made  their  appearance.  They  were  not 
so  entirely  to  depend  on  the  favour  of  their  sovereign,  as  to 
be  unprepared  for  the  contest.  He  had  bound  up  his  own 
hands  fr6m  assisting  them,  or  revenging  their  wrongs.  All 
that  he  could  do  for  them  was,  to  give  them  the  liberty  of  self- 
defence,  and  to  afford  them  his  countenance.  They  must  stand 
up  for  their  own  lives,  and  for  the  lives  of  their  little  ones,  if 
they  were  attacked.  It  is  to  be  expected,  that  those  who  are 
not  only  forewarned  of  danger,  but  instructed  in  the  proper 
means  for  guarding  against  it,  and  encouraged  with  the  2>ros- 
pect  of  success  in  the  use  of  them,  will  be  ready  for  the  day 
of  decision.  Do  not  they  well  deserve  to  perish,  who  are  care- 
less about  their  own  safety?  Who  will  bemoan  those  w^ho 
may  be  safe  in  the  day  of  evil,  and  despise  the  things  that  be- 
long to  their  peace  till  they  be  hid  from  their  eyes? 

Verse  14. — So  the  posts  that  rode  upon  mules  and  camels  icent 
out  J  being  hasten'ed  and  pressed  on  by  the  hinges  commandment. 
And  the  decree  was  given  at  Shushan  the  palace. 

The  posts  were  hastened  by  the  Icing's  commandment. — He  was 
now  made  sensible  of  the  great  wrong  he  had  done  to  the  Jews, 
and  made  all  possible  haste  to  undo,  as  far  as  he  could  undo, 
what  he  had  done.  Are  you  sensible  you  have  done  wrong? 
Make  haste,  and  delay  not  to  repair  the  wrong,  if  it  is  in  your 
power.  How  can  you  say  tliat  you  repent  of  the  evil  that  you 
have  done,  if  you  hold  it  fast?  The  light  of  nature  teaches 
men  that  they  ought,  with  the  first  opportunity,  to  put  away 
the  evil  of  their  doings,  and  to  redress  the  injuries  done  by 
their  hands,  or  their  tongues,  or  their  pens.  As  soon  as  Je- 
sus brought  salvation  to  the  house  of  Zaccheus,  he  said,  ^Lord! 
if  I  have  wronged  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him 
19 


290  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XII. 

four-fold/  Is  it  your  intention,  in  some  future  part  of  your 
life,  to  compensate  the  wrongs  you  have  done  in  the  former 
part  of  it?  But  are  you  sure  that  you  shall  see  another  week, 
or  even  another  day?  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  unless 
a  prophet  of  as  much  credit  as  Isaiah  has  brought  a  message 
from  God  that  some  more  years  of  life  are  allotted  you. 

And  the  decree  was  given  inShushan  the  palace. — Little  good 
was  now  expected  by  the  people  of  God  to  come  from  Shushan 
the  palace.  From  Shushan  came  the  edict  for  their  destruc- 
tion. But  God  can  make  good  to  spring  up  to  his  people 
where  it  was  least  expected.  In  the  very  place  where  it  was 
said,  *  Ye  are  not  my  people,'  has  it  been  said,  'Yemre  the 
children  of  the  living  God.'  The  valley  of  Achor  is  made  by 
divine  wisdom  and  grace  a  door  of  hope.  The  best  of  all 
things  in  the  world  came  out  of  Galilee  an^  Nazareth. 


CHAP.  VIII.  15 — IX.  5.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHEE.  291 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 


MORDECAl'S  GREATNESS,   WITH  THE  HAPPY    CHANGE    IN   THE  CONDI- 
TION OF  THE  JEWS. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  15 — CHAPTER  IX.  5. 

Verse  15. — And  Mordecai  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the 
king  in  royal  apparel  of  blue  and  tvhite,  and  ivith  a  great  crown 
of  gold,  and  with  a  garment  of  fine  linen  and  purple:  and  the 
city  of  Shushan  rejoiced  and  was  glad. 

Mordecai,  not  long  before  this  time,  was  clothed  with  sack- 
cloth; and  refused,  at  the  request  of  the  queeu,  to  put  it  off. 
But  now  he  is  clothed  with  royal  apparel,  and  his  head  is  en- 
circled with  a  crown  of  gold.  What  happy  changes  has  God 
often  made  in  the  outward  condition  of  his  people!  Let  us 
never  say  in  our  prosperity,  that  'we  shall  never  be  moved.' 
Let  us  never  say  in  the  day  of  adversity,  that  ^our  eyes  shall 
never  more  see  good/  or,  whatever  our  outward  condition 
may  be,  let  us  not  despair  of  obtaining  those  changes  in  our 
inward  condition  which  the  Redeemer,  whom  we  are  called 
to  trust,  hath  accomplished  in  innumerable  instances.  The 
Lord  anointed  him  'to  comfort  all  that  mourn,  to  give  unto 
them  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garments  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness.' 

Mordecai  was  now  adorned  with  the  ensigns  of  that  high 
station  to  which  the  king  advanced  him.  Perhaps  some  may 
ask,  whether  Mordecai's  happiness  was  increased  by  his  eleva- 
tion, or  not?  It  certainly  was.  The  greater  part  of  men  are 
fitted  to  enjoy  more  happiness  in  a  middling,  than  in  a  high 
condition.  But,  when  men  are  furnished  with  talents  and 
opportunities  for  public  usefulness,  and  when  their  pleasure 


292  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [DISC.  XIII. 

lies  more  in  doing  good  to  others  than  in  the  enjoyment  of  ease 
and  social  delights,  a  station  that  enables  them  to  gratify  their 
wishes,  and  to  exert  their  power  for  the  public  welfare,  must 
atlbrd  them  more  exquisite  and  sublime  pleasure  than  they 
wouUl  have  enjoyed  in  domestic  felicity,  or  in  the  endearments 
of  friendship.  Joseph  was  happier  in  the  government  of  Egypt, 
which  fitted  him  to  be  ^  the  shepherd  and  stone  of  Israel,'  than 
in  the  tents  of  his  father  Jacob;  although  he  was  his  father's 
deliirht.  David  found  much  more  trouble  on  a  throne  than 
ever  befel  him  when  he  was  following  the  ewes  with  young; 
but  he  was  happier  on  the  throne,  because  his  elevation  en- 
abled him  to  do  greater  services  for  God  and  for  Israel.  Mor- 
decai  was  raised  on  high  by  Divine  Providence  to  be  a  saviour 
to  Israel,  and  enjoyed  the  sublime  pleasure  of  knowing  that 
millions  blessed  God  on  his  account. 

Let  us  not,  however,  envy  the  great.  Multitudes  of  them 
might  have  been  far  happier,  if  they  had  moved  in  a  lower 
sphere.  We  are  not  all  Davids  or  Mordecais.  Agur  was  a 
very  good  man,  and  yet  he  prayed  that  God  might  give  him 
neither  poverty  nor  riches.  Think  not  that  you  are  better 
fitted  than  Agur  to  resist  the  temptations  attendant  on  riches. 
Christ  tells  us,  that  ^it  is  as  easy  for  a  camel  to  pass  through 
the  eye  of  a  needle,  as  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.'  But  nothing  is  impossible  with  God ;  and  Mor- 
decai,  amidst  all  his  wealth  and  power,  hastened  towards  the 
possession  of  that  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved. 

The  city  of  Shushan  rejoiced  and  was  glad  for  the  fall  of 
Haman,  and  the  exaltation  of  Mordecai.  'When  the  right- 
eous are  in  authority,  the  people  rejoice;  and  when  the  wicked 
perish,  there  is  shouting.'  Mordecai  was  an  exile,  and  a  wor- 
shipper of  the  God  of  Israel;  yet  the  people  of  Shushan,  who 
now  knew  his  virtues,  rejoiced  that  he  was  put  into  the  place 
of  Haman,  who  undoubtedly  was  an  oppressor  to  other  sub- 
jects of  the  king  l)eside3  the  Jews.  The  perplexity  into  which 
the  city  was  thrown  l)y  the  cruel  decree  against  the  Jews,  pre- 
pared it  for  rejoicing  in  the  exaltation  of  a  man  who  employed 
his  j)ower  for  their  protection.  Bloody  men  are  abhorred  by 
their  fellow-creatures,  and  virtue  recommends  itself  to  the  ad- 


CHAP.  VIII.  15 — IX.  5.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  293 

miration  of  those  whose  practice  is  not  in  all  things  conforma- 
ble to  its  rules.     A  Herod  venerated  John  Baptist! 

Verses  16, 17. — The  Jews  had  light ,  and  gladness  ^  and  joy  ^  and 
honour.  And  in  every  province^  and  in  every  city,  whithersoever 
the  hinges  commandment  and  his  decree  came,  the  Jews  Jiadjoy 
and  gladness,  a  feast  and  a  good  day.  And  many  of  the  people 
of  the  land  became  Jews;  for  the  fear  of  the  Jews  fell  upon  them. 

Many  expressions  are  used  to  signify  the  joy  and  exultation 
of  the  Jews  on  this  occasion;  and  no  expressions  are  sufficient 
to  describe  those  transports  of  gladness  which  they  must  have 
felt  when  the  king's  commandment  and  decree  came  abroad. 
According  to  the  days  wherein  they  had  sorrow,  and  wherein 
they  had  seen  evil,  they  were  made  glad.  Let  us  never  sink 
under  the  weight  of  affliction,  if  the  Lord  is  our  God.  Who 
had  ever  more  reason  tlian  the  Jews,  in  the  interval  between 
the  two  edicts,  to  say,  '  The  Lord  hath  led  us,  and  brought  us 
into  darkness,  and  not  into  light?'  The  Babylonian  captivity 
was  a  less  hopeless  calamity  than  the  situation  to  which  they 
were  reduced  by  a  general  sentence  of  death.  But  the  Lord 
'brought  them  again  out  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death, 
and  broke  their  bands  asunder.'  Now  might  they  sing  with 
pleasure  these  delightful  words  of  David,  'Thou  wilt  save  the 
afflicted  people,  but  wilt  bring  down  high  looks ;  for  thou  wilt 
light  my  candle.  The  Lord  my  God  will  enlighten  my  dark- 
ness.' 

'No  affliction  for  the  present  is  joyous,  but  grievous;'  yet 
afflictions  have  often  terminated  in  joys  never  felt  by  those 
who  never  had  changes.  Men  never  feel  the  joys  of  health 
that  were  never  sick ;  and  those  whose  souls  have  been  failing 
within  them,  through  trouble,  oppression,  and  fear,  know  best 
the  pleasure  of  ease  and  safety.  It  will  be  a  great  enhance- 
ment of  the  blessedness  of  heaven  to  redeemed  saints,  that  they 
were  once  in  a  state  of  sin  and  sorrow.  When  we  are  in 
trouble,  let  us  consider  by  what  means  joy  may  be  brought 
out  of  it,  that  we  may  learn  to  rejoice  in  hope.  Through  the 
grace  of  God,  thorns  may  be  made  to  bear  grapes,  and  thistles 
figs,  for  he  is  'wonderful  in  counsel, and  excellent  in  working.' 

There  is  one  thing  that  deserves  observation  in  this  joy  of 


294  DISCOUESES   ON   THE  [dISC.  XIII. 

the  Jews,  that  it  was  occasioned,  not  by  a  fall  security  given 
them  for  their  safety,  but  by  that  liberty  which  was  given 
them  to  defend  themselves  from  their  enemies.  They  had  still 
reason  to  dread  an  attack,  but  they  had  reason,  too,  to  hope 
lor  victory.  We  would  never  taste  joy  in  the  things  of  this 
world,  if  we  could  not  take  pleasure  but  in  prospects  altogether 
unch)uded.  Who  can  say  that  he  shall  never  more  meet  with 
d;ingers,  or  taste  sorrows?  We  may  be  assured,  on  solid 
grounds,  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for  our  good,  and 
that  heaven  shall  be  our  final  portion;  but  what  unpleasant 
things,  in  the  present  life,  may  appear  to  divine  wisdom  a  pro- 
per j)reparation  for  our  final  happiness,  w^e  cannot  tell.  This 
we  know,  that  when  our  prospects  are  in  some  degree  pleasant, 
we  ought  to  be  thankful,  and  especially  when  the  dark  pros- 
pects are  brightened,  although  the  events  in  question  cannot 
be  certain.  Some  of  the  Jews  might  lose  their  lives,  yet  God 
had  wonderfully  interposed  for  their  safety;  and  they  had 
good  reason  to  praise  God  for  what  was  done,  and  to  trust  him 
for  what  was  yet  to  be  done. 

They  had  'a  feast  and  a  good  day,'  wherever  the  king's  de- 
cree came.  'A  feast  is  made  for  laughter.'  Feasts,  on  proper 
occasions,  are  not  unbecoming  the  people  of  God.  Jesus  him- 
self did  not  refuse  his  presence  to  feasts.  Doubtless,  on  this 
feast  and  good  day  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  were  enlarged,  not 
only  with  joy,  but  with  kind  affections  towards  their  brethren, 
'l)artakers  with  them  of  the  benefit,'  and  with  gratitude  to  the 
God  of  their  salvation.  Whilst  they  congratulated  one  another, 
and  praised  the  exertions  of  Mordecai  and  Esther,  they  did 
not  forget  to  praise  the  Lord,  who  had  turned  the  heart  of  the 
king  of  Persia  to  favour  them;  Ezra  vii.  27,  28;  and  who  had 
turned  a  gracious  ear  to  the  voice  of  their  prayers  and  their 
supplications.  These  are  pure  and  lasting  joys  which  ter- 
minate in  God,  the  Father  of  lights,  from  whom  every  good 
and  perfect  gift  comes. 

Tiic  .J(!\vs  had  honour,  as  w^ell  as  light  and  joy.  The  Bab- 
ylonian captivity,  and  their  dispersion  among  the  nations, 
l>rou-lit  them  into  contempt:  'They  were  made  a  reproach 
unto  their  neighbours,  and  a  by-word  among  the  people.'    But 


CHAP.  VIII.  15— IX.  5.]      BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  295 

God's  signal  interposition  in  their  behalf  filled  beholders  with 
wonder  and  respect.  They  appeared  to  be  the  favourites  of 
the  God  of  heaven.  *  They  said  among  the  heathen,  The  Lord 
hath  done  great  things  for  them.'  God  hath  promised  to  wipe 
away  the  reproach  of  his  people,  and  get  them  fame  and  glory, 
when  he  rises  up  to  plead  their  cause.  Let  us  ^  never  fear  the 
reproach  of  men,  nor  be  afraid  of  their  revilings.'  Our  honour, 
as  well  as  our  life  and  property,  is  in  the  hand  of  God ;  and 
those  who  are  precious  in  his  sight  will  sooner  or  later  be 
honourable  in  the  eyes  of  men. 

And  many  of  the  people  of  the  land  became  Jews;  for  the  fear- 
of  the  Jews  fell  on  them. — It  is  not  impossible  for  those  who  are 
not  sprung  from  Abraham  to  become  Jews.  *They  are  not  all 
Israel  that  are  of  Israel ;'  and  those  may  be  '  Israelites  indeed ' 
who  are  sprung  from  Japhet  or  from  Canaan. 

^Hath  a  nation  changed  their  gods,  which  are  yet  no  gods?' 
says  Jeremiah.  Under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  the 
nations  were  steady  to  their  false  religions.  No  nation  changed 
their  gods,  which  yet  were  no  gods  (if  you  except  the  Edo- 
mites,  who  were  subdued  by  Hyrcanus,  and  adopted  the  Jewish 
religion;  but  these  Edomites  were  only  a  part  of  the  nation 
that  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  the  land  of  Judea).  It  was 
reserved  for  the  glory  of  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  that 
nations  under  it  should  be  born  in  one  day  to  God ;  yet,  in  the 
days  of  old,  many  individuals  became  Jews  after  their  return 
from  the  Babylonian  captivity,  especially  at  those  seasons  when 
God  showed  forth  his  glory  in  doing  marvellous  works  for  his 
people. 

'The  Lord  is  known  by  his  judgments.'  He  was  made 
known  to  many  of  the  heathen  throughout  the  Persian  em- 
pire at  this  happy  time,  when  the  king  Ahasuerus's  heart  was 
so  unexpectedly  turned  to  favour  God's  people.  They  saw 
that  the  God  of  heaven  was  the  God  of  Israel,  and  that  works 
were  done  by  Him  which  no  other  god  could  do.  The  fear  of 
the  Jews  fell  upon  them,  for  they  saw  that  the  greatest  man, 
next  to  the  king,  in  the  whole  empire,  was  broken  and  crushed 
in  his  contest  with  them. 

U  the  observation  of  single  acts  of  the  divine  procedure  had 


296  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XIII. 

such  happy  effects  in  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  what  effect 
ought  the  consideration  of  all  God's  works  of  wonder  to  have 
upon  our  hearts?  The  salvation  of  the  Jews,  in  the  days  of 
Ahasuerus,  is  one  of  the  manifold  salvations  which  God  wrought 
for  his  people  in  ancient  days.  But  what  are  all  the  temporal 
salvations  wrought  for  ancient  Israel,  to  the  great  salvation 
wroutdit  for  Jews  and  Gentiles  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ!  and 
bow  wonderful  are  the  salvations  that  have  been  wrought  in 
different  ages  for  the  church!  'Among  the  gods  there  is  none 
like  unto  thee,  O  Lord!  neither  are  there  any  works  like  thy 
works.  All  nations  whom  thou  hast  made  shall  come  and 
worship  before  thee,  O  Lord !  and  shall  glorify  thy  name.  For 
thou  art  great,  and  dost  wonderful  things;  thou  art  God  alone!' 

AVho  could  have  believed  that  the  contrivances  of  Haman 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Jews  would  have  terminated  in  the 
increase  of  their  nation  ?  The  lovers  of  the  name  of  the  God 
of  Israel  would  tremble  at  Haman's  devices,  lest  the  name  of 
Israel  should  be  put  out,  and  the  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel 
should  be  extirpated  from  the  earth.  But  the  revolution  of 
a  few  weeks  convinced  them  that  their  God  was  the  same  God 
that  he  had  ever  been ;  and  that  wherein  his  enemies  dealt 
proudly,  he  was  still  above  them.  Death  and  destruction  are 
in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  he  can  make  them  instrumental 
for  the  life,  and  for  bringing  about  the  safety,  of  his  people. 
*  Before  him  darkness  becomes  light,  and  sorrow  is  turned  into 
joy.  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness,  and  carrieth 
the  devices  of  the  froward  headlong.  So  the  poor  have  hope, 
and  iniquity  stoppeth  her  mouth.' 

Chap.  ix.  Verse  l.—Now  in  the  twelfth  month  {that  is,  the 
month  Ada7'),  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  same,  when  the  king's 
comrmndmcnt  and  his  decree  dreiv  near  to  he  put  in  execution, 
ill  the  day  that  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  hoped  to  have  power  over 
theniy  {though  it  was  turned  to  the  contrary,  that  the  Jews  had  rule 
over  them  that  hatid  them:) — 

*The  liopc  of  the  righteous  is  gladness,  but  the  expectation 
of  tluj  wicked  shall  perish.'  Of  the  truth  of  this  maxim  of 
v.'is(l(jin,  we  have  a  remarkable  instance  in  the  events  of  the 
moutli  Adar,  when  the  decree  of  king  Ahasuerus  was  put  in 


CHAP.  VIII.  15 — IX.  5.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  297 

execution.  The  enemies  of  the  Jews  had  looked  forward 
to  that  day  with  great  pleasure.  It  was  to  be  the  day  on 
which  the  name  of  Israel  was  to  be  abolished,  and  the  worship 
of  their  God  utterly  extinguished.  But,  by  the  good  pro- 
vidence of  God,  it  was  a  day  in  which  the  bitter  enemies  of 
the  Jews  were  destroyed,  and  their  nation  blessed  with  a  testi- 
mony of  the  favour  and  power  of  their  God,  which  made  his 
name  known  through  all  the  hundred  twenty  and  seven  pro- 
vinces of  the  Persian  empire.  *  The  God  of  their  mercy  pre- 
vented them  /  and  at  the  time  when  their  enemies  had  hoped 
to  gain  a  complete  victory,  they  were  subdued  and  destroyed. 
Little  do  the  enemies  of  Zion  know  the  intention  of  the  God 
of  Zion,  when  he  covers  her  with  a  cloud,  and  gives  scope  to 
their  malice.  Their  conjectures  appear  to  be  built  on  solid 
grounds  when  they  predict  the  downfall  of  Zion;  but  the 
wisest  conjectures  of  men  must  give  place  to  the  most  im- 
probable predictions  of  the  word  of  God,  which  assure  us  that 
the  enemies  of  Zion  shall  be  covered  with  confusion,  and  that 
God  himself  will  establish  her.  The  times  have  been,  when 
many  nations  were  gathered  against  her,  that  said,  'Let  her 
be  defiled,  and  let  our  eyes  look  upon  Zion : — But  they  knew 
not  the  thoughts  of  the  Lord,  neither  understood  they  his 
counsel ;  for  He  gathered  them  as  sheaves  into  the  floor,  and 
made  the  horns  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  iron,  and  her  hoofs 
brass,  that  she  might  arise  and  thresh,  and  beat  in  pieces  many 
people,  and  consecrate  their  gain  unto  the  Lord,  and  their  sub- 
stance unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth.'  Wait  patiently  for 
God  in  the  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness.  He  often  makes 
the  day  dark  with  night,  when  at  the  evening-time  it  shall 
be  light. 

Verse  2. —  The  Jews  gathered  themselves  together  in  their  cities 
throughout  all  the  provinces  of  the  king  Ahasuerus,  to  lay  hand 
on  such  as  sought  their  hurl:  and  no  man  could  withstand  them; 
for  the  fear  of  them  fell  upon  all  people. 

*Thou  shalt  not  kill.'  This  commandment,  in  some  cases, 
binds  us  to  kill.  It  requires  us  to  use  all  lawful  endeavours 
to  preserve  our  own  life;  and  in  preserving  our  own  lives,  we 
may  be  reduced  to  the  unpleasant  necessity  of  taking  away  the 


298  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XIII. 

lives  of  other  men.  The  Jews  were  compelled,  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  the  month  Adar,  to  take  arms  into  their  hands,  to  de- 
stroy all  that  might  rise  up  against  them;  and  they  acted  wisely 
in  uniting  themselves  in  large  bodies  to  resist  the  power  of 
their  enemies.  Had  they  stood  single  in  arms,  they  might  all 
have  been  destroyed  with  ease.  But  their  combination  in  the 
various  cities  of  the  king's  dominions  made  them  terrible  and 
irresistible.  Let  us  learn  from  their  example  to  stand  fast  in 
one  spirit,  and  with  one  mind  striving  together  against  the 
enemies  of  our  souls,  w^ho  endeavour  to  rob  us  of  our  faith, 
more  precious  than  our  lives.'^  The  church  is  terrible,  like 
an  army  with  banners,  when  her  rulers  and  members  are  closely 
united  under  the  Captain  of  salvation,  to  oppose  her  enemies. 

No  man  could  now  withstand  the  Jews,  for  the  fear  of  them 
fell  upon  all  people.  They  had  the  king,  the  queen,  the  prime 
minister  upon  their  side;  and,  what  was  still  more,  they  had 
the  providence  of  God  upon  their  side.  ^He  caused  judgment 
to  be  heard  from  heaven,'  as  audibly  as  if  an  angel  had  pro- 
claimed his  favour  to  the  Jews,  and  his  indignation  against  their 
enemies.  The  wonderful  works  of  Providence  have  oft  struck 
terror  into  the  hardiest  enemies  of  Zion;  Psalm  xlviii.  5,  6. 

Verse  3. — And  all  the  rulers  of  the  j>rovinces,  and  the  lieuten- 
anbi,  and  the  deputies^  and  officers  of  the  king  helped  the  Jews; 
because  tJiefear  of  Mordecaifell  upon  them. 

*  These  weighty  sentences  fully  vindicate  the  defensive  leagues  and 
covenants  entered  into  by  theEeformed  Christians  of  the  churches  of  the 
Reformation— such  as  the  Huguenots  of  France,  the  Lutherans  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland,  not  to  mention  the  primitive 
evangelical  churches  of  the  valleys  of  the  Alps— by  which  they  solemnly 
bound  themselves  to  defend,  even  by  resort  to  arms  if  necessary,  their 
civil  and  religious  rights  and  liberties,  more  precious  to  them  than  their 
lives,  against  the  intolerable  oppressions  of  Popery  and  the  tyranny  of 
their  rulers.  They  equally  condemn  the  principle  of  the 'Society  of 
Friends'  and  our  modern  'Peace  Society'  and  others,  who  maintain  that 
i-ven  defensive  warfare  for  a  just  cause  is  unchristian  and  wrong;  and 
who  would  even  fcjrbid  to  the  individual  the  resort  to  self-defence  for  the 
Bccurity  of  his  life  and  property.  Away  with  such  weak  and  contempti- 
ble principles  as  these!  They  are  equally  opposed  to  the  dictates  of  na- 
ture, of  reason,  and  of  the  Word  of  God.— Ed. 


CHAP.  VIII.  15 — IX.  5.]      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  299 

Thei'e  were  two  decrees  in  equal  force,  which  might  have 
given  them  a  fair  pretense  for  taking  the  part  of  the  Jews,  or 
of  their  enemies,  as  they  pleased;  but  it  was  plain  that  the 
king's  favour  was  towards  the  Jews,  and  that  if  they  expected 
any  favour  from  him,  it  was  necessary  to  secure  the  good-will 
of  Mordecai.  They  chose  that  side  in  the  contest  which  their 
own  interest  prescribed.  AYhat  a  pity  is  it  that  all  princes  do 
not  favour  the  cause  of  religion !  Pf  they  did,  iniquity  would 
be  compelled  to  stop  her  mouth,  and  those  men  who  do  not 
value  religion  would  treat  it,  at  least,  with  respect. 

Averse  4. — For  Mordecai  was  great  in  the  hinges  house,  and 
his  fame  went  out  throughout  all  the  provinces:  for  this  man  Mor- 
decai waxed  greater  and  greater. 

He  was  famous  for  his  virtue  and  wisdom,  as  well  as  for  the 
honours  to  which  the  king  had  advanced  him.  He  gained 
more  and  more  respect  the  better  he  was  known,  and  all  the 
respect  entertained  for  him  by  the  king,  or  by  his  subjects, 
contributed  to  the  success  of  the  Jews  in  the  day  when  their 
fate  was  to  be  decided.  It  was  this  that  made  Mordecai's  fame 
and  greatness  a  pleasure  to  himself,  and  the  cause  of  thanks- 
giving from  him  unto  God.  He  had  been  formerly  as  an  hum- 
ble shrub  in  the  valley,  and  then  his  obscurity  was  so  little 
disagreeable  to  him,  that  he  never  called  to  the  king's  mind 
the  great  services  he  had  done  for  him  in  saving  his  life,  nor 
would  suffer  the  queen  to  make  any  mention  of  his  relation 
and  kindness  to  her,  although,  by  the  bare  mention  of  these, 
the  king  would  have  been  induced  to  place  him  in  a  much 
higher  station.  He  was  now  like  a  tall  cedar,  with  spreading 
branches,  and  a  shadowing  shroud;  and  he  was  highly  pleased 
with  this  change  in  his  condition,  because  it  enabled  him  to 
afford  shelter  to  all  his  j^eople. 

Verse  5. — Thus  the  Jews  smote  all  their  enemies  with  the  stroke 
of  the  sword,  and  slaughter,  and  destruction,  and  did  what  tlicij 
u-ould  unto  those  that  hated  them. 

It  may  appear  strange  that  the  Jews  now  found  any  ene- 
mies bold  enough  to  contend  with  them  in  battle.  The  king 
was  their  friend,  God  was  their  friend,  what  could  those  ex- 
pect who  sought  their  lives,  but  destruction  to  themselves?    It 


300  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XIII. 

is  indeed  wonderful,  but  not  uncommon,  for  men  to  value  the 
gratification  of  their  malignant  passions  above  their  best  in- 
terests, and  above  their  safety.  At  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem by  the  Romans,  it  is  well  known  that  the  Jews  themselves 
did  more  mischief  to  one  another,  than  all  the  harm  they  suf- 
fered from  the  fury  of  their  conquerors.  The  different  parties, 
when  they  found  respite  from  the  Romans,  destroyed  one  an- 
other within  the  walls,  and  destroyed  their  provisions,  and 
thus  brought  upon  themselves  a  famine,  which  destroyed  them 
by  thousands.  But  we  need  not  look  seventeen  hundred  years 
back  to  see  the  tyrannizing  power  of  malice  and  hatred  over 
the  minds  of  men.  Are  there  not  many  who  subject  them- 
selves to  bitter  remorse,  to  ruinous  fines,  or  to  an  ignominious 
death  ;  are  there  not  many  more  who  subject  themselves  to 
the  curse  of  God,  merely  to  gratify  their  accursed  spite  against 
their  fellow-men? 

Many  of  the  enemies  of  the  Jews,  doubtless,  were  overawed 
by  the  power  of  Mordecai,  and  either  sat  quiet  in  their  dwell- 
ings, or  joined  with  the  Jews.  Many  chose  rather  to  be  quiet 
then  to  venture  their  lives  in  battle  with  enemies  that  were 
sure  to  be  victorious.  But  there  were  others,  not  in  small 
numbers,  who  chose  to  venture  or  rather  to  sell  their  lives, 
and  the  lives  of  all  that  were  dear  to  them,  rather  than  lose 
the  opportunity  given  them  by  law,  of  attempting  to  destroy 
a  race  of  men  whom,  though  innocent,  they  hated  with  a  deadly 
hatred.  These  men  combined  in  the  different  cities  to  fight 
against  the  Jews.  But  their  confederacy  was  against  the  God 
of  heaven,  who  spoiled  them  of  their  courage,  and  gave  them 
into  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  to  do  to  them  as  they  would.  They 
were  so  far  from  gaining  their  malicious  purposes  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  lives,  that  victory,  and  glory,  and  triumph  to 
tlieir  hated  enemies,  were  the  fruit  of  their  cruel  attempt.  Vain 
it  is  to  fight  against  God,  or  against  those  whom  he  loves  and 
protects.  If  God  be  against  us,  who  can  be  for  us?  If  we 
harden  ourselves  against  the  Almighty,  we  cannot  prosper. 
It  were  better  for  us  to  dash  our  heads  against  the  craggy  rock, 
than  to  ru.^li  upon  the  thick  bosses  of  the  buckler  of  the  Al- 
mighty. 


CHAP.  VIII.  15 — IX.  5. J      BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  301 

Why  should  men  fight  against  God?  And  yet  there  are 
too  many  who  fear  not  to  carry  the  weapons  of  an  unrighteous 
warfare  against  their  Maker  and  their  Judge.  'Whatever  ye 
have  done,  or  not  done,  to  one  of  the  least  x)f  my  brethren/ 
says  Christ,  'ye  have  done,  or  not  done,  to  me.'  Enmity 
against  the  people  of  God  is  enmity  against  God  himself;  and 
surely  'all  that  are  incensed  against  Him  shall  be  ashamed.' 


302  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.   XIV 


DISCOURSE  XIV 


NUMBERS  OF  THE  SLAIN— A  SECOND   BATTLE  AT  SHUSHAN. 
CHAPTER  IX.  6-19. 

Verses  6-10. — And  in  Shushan  the  palace,  the  Jews  slew  and 
destroyed  five  hundred  men.  And  Parshandatha,  and  Dalphon, 
and  Aspatha,  and  Poratha,  and  Adalia,  and  Aridatha,  and 
Panaashta,  and  Arisai,  ami  Aridai,  and  Vojezatha,  the  ten  sons 
ofllaman  the  son  of  Hammedatha,  the  enemy  of  the  Jews,  slew  they; 
but  on  the  spjoil  laid  they  not  their  hand. 

Even  in  Shushan  the  royal  city,  under  the  eye  of  the  king, 
there  were  more  than  five  hundred  men  that  combined,  in  de- 
liance  of  the  king's  known  sentiments,  to  attack  the  Jew^s.  But 
they  meddled  to  their  own  hurt.  When  we  consider  the  au- 
dacity of  that  behaviour  to  which  their  malice  prompted  them, 
we  see  that  Mordecai  had  too  much  reason  to  tell  Esther  that 
she  would  not  be  safe  in  the  king's  palace  if  she  did  not  inter- 
cede with  the  king.  The  men  that  could  take  the  pretense  of 
a  law  to  attack  the  Jews  to  their  certain  destruction,  might 
have  been  prompted  by  the  same  outrageous  malice  to  attack 
Esther  in  the  palace,  when  they  could  plead  the  king's  author- 
ity for  their  enterprise. 

ThanQ  five  hundred  men  in  Shushan,  who  sold  their  lives  in 
this  desj)erate  cause,  were,  doubtless,  some  of  Haman's  crea- 
tures, who  had  learned  from  him  to  hate  the  Jews  with  a 
bloody  hatred,  llamau's  ten  sons  were  at  the  head  of  them, 
and  shared  in  their  fate.  They  were,  doubtless,  trained  up  by 
ilicir  i'ather  in  the  hatred  of  that  nation;  and  his  miserable 
end,  instead  of  o[)ening  their  eyes,  irritated  their  resentment, 
to  their  own  destruction. 


CHAP.  IX.  6-10.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  303 

It  was  natural,  some  will  say,  for  Hainan's  sons  to  account 
that  people  their  enemies,  by  the  means  of  whom  their  father 
suffered  an  ignominious  death.  It  was  natural,  it  must  be 
confessed;  but  it  ddes  not  follow  that  it  was  right.  Children 
are  to  honour  their  parents  while  they  live,  and  venerate  their 
memory  when  they  are  dead,  but  not  to  follow  their  example 
in  any  thing  that  is  evil.  The  children  of  wicked  parents 
ought  to  remember,  that  their  duty  to  their  Maker  must  have 
the  precedency  of  all  other  duties;  and  that  to  rebel  against 
God  because  their  parents  rebelled  against  him,  is  not  more 
excusable,  than  for  a  man  to  be  a  thief,  or  a  traitor,  or  an  adul- 
terer, because  his  father  was  so  before  him.  God  commanded 
his  people,  when  they  were  carried  away  captives  for  their 
transgressions,  to  confess  their  own  iniquity,  and  the  iniquity 
of  their  fathers.  The  holy  son  of  the  wicked  Ahaz  made  a 
full  confession  of  the  sins  committed  by  his  father,  and  by  the 
people  under  his  influence,  and  deserved  high  praise  for  re- 
versing all  his  wicked  institutions;  2  Chron.  xxix.  Jeroboam 
had  only  one  son  in  his  house  who  discovered  a  dislike  of  his 
father's  conduct,  and  was  the  only  member  of  the  family  nvIio 
died  in  peace.  ^Fill  ye  up  the  measure  of  your  fathers,  said 
Jesus  to  the  Jews ;  warning  them  that  their  fathers'  example 
would  be  so  far  from  justifying  their  wicked  conduct,  that  the 
vengeance  of  Heaven  was  brought  the  nearer  to  them  that 
their  sins  were  but  a  continuation  of  the  sins  of  their  progen- 
itors. 

Parents !  pity  your  children,  if  you  will  not  pity  yourselves. 
You  know  what  force  the  example  and  influence  of  parents 
has.  If  you  profess  bad  principles,  you  of  course  train  up  your 
children  in  the  profession  of  the  same.  If  you  openly  practise 
wickedness,  you  teach  your  children  to  practise  it  likewise. 
Thus  you  pull  down  vengeance,  not  only  upon  yourselves,  but 
upon  your  houses.  You  see  that  Haman  was  the  enemy  of 
the  Jews,  and  of  the  God  of  the  Jews;  and  the  punishment  of 
his  wickedness  fell  heavy,  not  only  on  himself,  but  upon  all 
his  family,  which  was  probably  rooted  out  of  the  earth.  His 
sons  might  have  been  suffered  to  live  in  obscurity,  if  they  had 
been  willing  to  live  peaceably.     But  they  had  drunk  deep  of 


304  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XIY. 

their  father's  spirit,  and  followed  his  example;  and  ten  (pro- 
bably all)  of  them  perished  on  that  fatal  day  on  which  their 
father,  a  few  months  before,  had  hoped  to  feast  his  eyes  with 
the  blood  of  those  whom  he  chose  to  account  his  enemies. 

But  on  the  spoil  laid  they  not  their  hands. — It  is  not  always 
good  to  seize  all  the  money  to  which  one  has  a  legal  right. 
There  are  many  cases  in  which  a  regard  to  our  own  credit,  and 
there  are  others  in  which  a  sense  of  duty,  resulting  from  sin- 
gular circumstances,  should  bind  up  our  hands  from  receiving 
what  we  might  otherwise  take  without  injustice.  The  king's 
edict  gave  the  Jews  a  right  to  take  the  spoil  of  their  enemies ; 
Chap.  viii.  11.  But  for  their  own  honour,  and  for  the  credit 
of  their  religion,  they  chose  to  leave  the  spoil  of  their  enemies 
to  be  enjoyed  by  others.  The  tongue  that  slandereth  might 
have  alleged  that  they  had  slain  innocent  persons  with  the 
guilty,  to  enrich  themselves. 

They  had  been  accused  as  a  wicked  people,  whom  it  was 
good  for  mankind  to  destroy  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Their 
noble  disinterestedness  was  a  refutation  of  this  calumny.  It 
was  evident  from  their  conduct  that  they  were  not  lovers  of 
money;  and  ^the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.'  The 
apostle  Paul  showed  disinterestedness  of  spirit  in  a  higher  de- 
gree, when  he  laboured  for  years  in  places  where,  for  the  hon- 
our of  that  gospel  which  he  preached,  he  would  receive  no 
recompense  from  his  hearers,  that  it  might  not  be  accounted  a 
fable  cunningly  devised  for  the  profit  of  them  who  preach  it; 
Acts,  xviii.  3. 

Verses  11,  12. —  On  that  day  the  number  of  those  that  were 
slain  in  Shushan  the  palace  was  brought  before  the  king.  And 
the  Icing  said  unto  Esther  the  queen.  The  Jews  have  slain  and  de- 
stroyed fvc  hundred  men  in  Shushan  the  palace j  and  the  ten  sons 
oj  TIaman;  wJiat  have  they  done  in  the  rest  of  the  hinges  provinces? 
now  what  is  thy  petition  f  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee:  or  what 
is  thy  request  further?  and  it  shall  be  done. 

The  king  had  an  account  brought  to  him  of  the  number  of 
tlie  slain  in  the  imperial  city.  It  was  highly  proper  that  he 
nhouKl  cause  this  account  to  be  brought  before  him.  If  hus- 
bandmen be  diligent  to  know  the  state  of  their  flocks,  and 


CHAP.  IX.  6-10.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  305 

look  well  to  their  herds,  how  much  more  ought  kings  to  in- 
form themselves  of  the  affairs  of  their  kingdom !  Ahasuerus 
might  learn  wisdom  from  the  account  brought  him  of  the 
slaughter  of  the  enemies  of  the  Jews.  By  his  rashness  he  had 
occasioned  the  slaughter.  If  five  hundred  men  were  slain  in 
Susa,  what  numbers  might  be  supposed  to  be  slain  throughout 
all  the  provinces?  What  bloodshed  had  been  the  fruit  of  one 
thoughtless  act  of  government!  It  may  be  hoped  that  Aha- 
suerus learned  wisdom  for  the  time  to  come.  Never  in  the 
succeeding  years  of  his  reign  was  he  chargeable  with  such 
folly.  At  a  great  expense  he  learned  a  very  needful  lesson, 
To  do  nothing  without  consideration  of  the  consequences. 

The  king  brings  to  the  queen  his  information  concerning  the 
slaughtered  enemies  of  the  Jew^s.  ^  The  Jews  have  slain,  and 
destroyed  five  hundred  men/  says  he,  4n  Shushan  the  palace,' 
besides  the  ten  sons  of  Haman,  the  most  formidable  and  the 
most  enraged  of  them.  The  king  could  not  yet  tell  how  many 
were  slain  through  the  large  extent  of  his  dominions,  but  he 
justly  infers  from  the  number  of  the  slain  in  one  city,  that  it 
must  be  very  great  in  all  the  cities  and  provinces  together. 
This  piece  of  information  the  king  hoped  would  be  very  grate- 
ful to  Esther,  as  it  would  ease  her  mind  of  those  griefs  which 
had  long  oppressed  it.  She,  indeed,  had  good  and  well- 
grounded  hopes  before  this  time,  that  the  enemies  of  her  peo- 
ple would  fall  in  the  contest;  and  now  she  enjoyed  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  her  hopes  were  realized. 

We  must  not  rejoice  in  the  destruction  of  our  enemies,  nor 
must  our  hearts  be  glad  when  they  stumble.  This  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  prophets,  as  well  as  of  the  apostles;  Prov.  xxiv. 
17.  Yet  God's  people  have  good  reason  to  rejoice  at  the  fall 
of  their  irreconcileable  enemies,  when  they  see  the  mercy  of 
God  to  themselves,  and  when  they  see  the  safety  of  the  church 
in  the  destruction  of  those  who  hated  them :  *  When  God 
shoots  at  the  wicked  with  an  arrow,  and  wounds  them  sudden- 
ly, the  righteous  shall  be  glad  in  the  Lord,  and  shall  trust  in 
him,  and  all  the  upright  in  heart  shall  glory ;  Psal.  Ixiv.  7-10. 

Now,  what  is  thy  petition  f  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee:  or, 
what  is  thy  request  further  f  and  it  shall  be  done, — It  is  reported 
20 


306  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XIV. 

of  I^Iary  Queen  of  Scotland,  that  her  household-servants  were 
always  glad  when  she  was  put  into  a  passion ;  for,  when  she 
was  restored  to  good  humour,  she  made  them  more  than  a  suf- 
ficient recompense  for  all  past  unkindnesses.  Thus  Ahasuerus, 
sensible  of  the  wrongs  he  had  done  to  his  queen,  endeavoured 
to  banish  all  remembrance  of  them,  by  heaping  upon  her  un- 
expected kindnesses.  All  of  us  are  liable  to  starts  of  bad  hu- 
mour, and  may  behave  unkindly  to  those  who  are  dearest  to 
us-  or  we  may,  through  want  of  due  consideration,  give  them 
much  pain  without  intending  it.  When  we  are  made  sensible 
of  such  conduct,  let  us  repair  it  with  advantage.  Whilst  our 
friends  live,  if  we  have  treated  them  with  unkindness,  there 
is  opportunity  to  obliterate  the  wrong.  They  may  die,  and 
then  it  will  be  sealed  up,  and  nothing  will  be  left  for  us  but 
unavailing  regret. 

Verse  13. — Then  said  Esther,  If  it  please  the  king,  let  it  be 
granted  to  the  Jews  which  are  in  Shushan  to  do  to-morrow  also 
according  unto  this  day^s  decree,  and  let  Hainan's  ten  sons  be 
hanged  upon  the  gallows, 

'Dearly  beloved,'  says  the  apostle,  'avenge  not  yourselves.' 
*Love  your  enemies,'  says  Christ,  Hhat  ye  may  be  the  children 
of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.'  Was  Esther  not  a  daughter 
of  the  Lord  Almighty?  or  was  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment dispensation  of  religion  different  from  that  'spirit  of  love, 
and  of  a  sound  mind,'  which  is  given  unto  us? 

Esther  was  undoubtedly  a  saint  of  God,  and  the  spirit  of 
love  dwelt  in  her.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  writers  of 
the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  those  of  the  New,  forbid  re- 
venge; Prov.  xxiv.  17.  But  self-defence  is  licensed  and  re- 
quired under  the  New,  as  well  as  the  Old  Testament.  Esther 
kn(nv  that  there  were  still  many  deadly  enemies  of  the  Jews  in 
Shushan,  who  might,  if  they  were  suffered  to  live,  harass  or 
destroy  them.  She  desires  that  they  might  receive  the  just 
reward  of  their  malice. 

Lukewarmness,  and  even  cruelty,  have  often  assumed  the 
dress  of  charity.  The  children  of  Israel,  after  the  death  of 
Joshua,  were  cruel  to  the  rising  generation,  when  they  spared 
the  wicked  Canaanites.     Saul  brought  wrath  upon  himself, 


CHAP.  IX.  6-19.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  85T 

when  he  spared  Agag.  Samuel  performed  an  act  of  humanity, 
when  he  hewed  to  pieces  before  the  Lord  a  tyrant  who  had 
made  many  women  childless,  for  a  warning  to  other  despots. 
*  Cursed  be  he,'  says  Jeremiah  on  a  certain  occasion,  ^  who  doth 
the  work  of  the  Lord  deceitfully.  Cursed  be  he  who  kcepeth 
back  his  sword  from  shedding  blood.'  A  curse  came  upon 
Meroz,  for  sparing  the  blood  of  the  Canaanitish  enemies  of 
Israel.  A  worse  curse  might  have  come  upon  Esther,  if  she 
had  neglected  the  opportunity  graciously  afforded  her  by  God, 
for  securing  the  peace  of  Israel  by  the  destruction  of  Haman's 
creatures.  They  were  a  race  of  vipers.  Their  venom  was  not 
diminished.  If  they  had  not  been  crushed,  they  might  have 
found  an  opportunity  to  sting  the  man  who  had  brought  de- 
struction on  their  companions  in  wickedness. 

Beware  of  making  a  bad  use  of  this  piece  of  historv.  Such 
circumstances  as  those  in  which  Esther  was  placed,  will  pro- 
bably never  occur  to  any  of  you.  The  care  of  the  lives  of  all 
the  people  of  God  came  upon  her,  and  the  enemies  of  the  Jews, 
by  their  late  behaviour,  were  seen  to  be  hardened  beyond  all 
hopes  of  reformation.  When  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  lifted 
up,  they  would  not  see  it,  but  rushed  upon  him,  even  upon  the 
thick  bosses  of  his  buckler.  Your  enemies  may  be  reclaimed. 
Your  duty,  according  to  Solomon  and  Paul,  is,  if  your  ene- 
mies are  hungry,  to  feed  them;  if  they  are  thirsty,  to  give 
them  drink.  Thus  you  will  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  their  heads, 
and  the  Lord  will  reward  you.  Remember  how  Jesus,  when 
he  was  dying  for  your  sins,  prayed  for  his  murderers.  You 
knoit^  not  what  manner  of  spirit  you  are  of,  if  you  draw  into 
an  ordinary  precedent  extraordinary  cases,  from  the  histories 
of  Elijah,  or  Moses,  or  Esther.  Christ  left  you  an  example 
to  follow  his  steps  on  every  occasion. 

Let  Haman^s  ten  sons  be  hanged  upon  the  gallows;  on  that 
gallows  which  their  father  set  up  for  Mo.rdecai.  Kings  can 
take  away  our  lives,  that  is  all  they  can  do  against  us ;  and 
yet,  when  we  are  dead,  they  may  expose  our  bodies  to  infamy. 
Haman's  ten  sons  could  feel  no  more  pain  from  the  hand  of 
men.  But  their  ignominious  exposure  on  the  gallows  erected 
by  their  father  was  an  awful  warning  to  other  enemies  of  the 


308  DISCOURSES  ON   THE  [DISC.  XIV. 

Jews.  It  was  a  standing  proclamation  of  the  favour  of  God 
to  that  nation ;  of  his  indignation  against  their  enemies;  and  of 
the  righteousness  of  his  judgments.  Those  who  saw  them,  saw 
good  reason  for  saying,  ^  Truly  there  is  a  reward  for  the  right- 
eous; truly  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth,*  The 
Lord  cuuseth  his  wonderful  works  to  be  remembered.  He 
would  not  have  us  forget  his  awful,  any  more  than  his  pleasant 
works,  tliat  he  may  be  glorified  by  us  as  a  great  God  and  a 
Saviour. 

Verse  14. — And  the  king  commanded  it  so  to  be  done:  and  the 
decree  was  given  at  Shushan;  and  they  hanged  Haman^s  ten  sons. 

From  the  ready  acquiescence  of  the  king  in  Esther^s  request, 
we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  he  saw  it  to  be  just  and  pro- 
per. After  what  had  newly  happened,  it  was  not  likely  that 
he  would  give  a  rash  assent  to  a  bloody  decree.  But  ^a  wise 
king  will  crush  the  wicked,  and  bring  the  wheel  over  them.' 

By  the  king's  commandment,  'the  ten  sons  of  Haman  were 
hanged  upon  the  gallows.'  The  king  soon  relented  after  he 
had  passed  a  too  severe  decree  against  Yashti ;  but  he  did  not 
repent,  nor  had  he  any  reason  to  repent,  of  what  he  did  against 
Haman.  All  the  children  of  that  insolent  favourite  were  given 
up  to  infamy  after  death.  We  need  not  on  this  occasion  re- 
flect on  the  uncertainty  of  royal  favour.  Haman  and  his  family 
might  still  have  enjoyed  the  smiles  of  the  king  if  they  had  de- 
served them.  Their  own  wickedness  destroyed  and  disgraced 
them;  for  'they  drew  iniquity  to  themselves  with  cords  of 
vanity,  and  sinned  as  it  were  with  a  cart-rope.' 

Verse  15. — For  the  Jews  that  were  in  Shushan  gathered  tflem- 
ttelves  together  on  the  fourteenth  day  also  of  the  month  Adar,  and 
slew  three  hundred  men  at  Shushan;  hut  on  the  prey  they  laid  not 
their  hands. 

They  provided  for  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men. 
When  they  laid  not  their  hands  on  the  prey,  it  would  easily 
be  believed  that  they  had  killed  no  innocent  persons.  It  was 
evidently  not  the  desire  of  gain,  but  a  just  regard  to  their  own 
safety,  tliat  induced  them  to  kill  so  many  of  their  enemies. 

These  enemies  of  the  Jews  that  escaped  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  the  month,  would  think  that  the  bitterness  of  death  w^as 


CHAP.  IX.  6-19.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  309 

past.  The  law,  as  it  then  stood,  exposed  them  to  no  further 
danger.  But  these  enemies  of  God  who  escape  shall  not  flee 
away.  'Mischief  shall  hunt  the  violent  man  till  he  be  ruined.' 
If  he  is  not  ruined  to-day,  he  will  be  ruined  to-morrow ;  if  not 
to-morrow,  on  some  following  day  known  to  the  Lord,  and 
probably  on  a  day  when  he  is  not  expecting  it.  The  bitter- 
ness of  death  cannot  be  past  whilst  the  sentence  of  the  Almighty 
is  standing  in  force  against  the  wicked. 

Verse  16. — But  the  other  Jews  that  were  in  the  hinges  provinces 
gathered  themselves  together,  and  stood  for  their  lives,  and  had  rest 
from  their  enemies,  and  slew  of  their  foes  seventy  and  five  thousand; 
but  they  laid  not  their  hands  on  the  prey, — 

How  many  were  the  enemies  of  the  Jews,  even  after  they 
were  known  to  be  favoured  by  the  king,  when,  in  all  appear- 
ance, avowed  enmity  against  them  was  to  end  in  speedy  de- 
struction !  But  many  as  they  were,  there  were  more  with  the 
people  of  God  than  against  them,  and  their  enemies  were  made 
to  lick  the  dust.  Let  not  those  who  have  God  on  their  side 
tremble  at  the  multitude  and  strength  of  their  enemies.  'As- 
sociate yourselves,  O  ye  people !  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in 
pieces;  and  give  ear,  all  ye  of  far  countries:  gird  yourselves, 
and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces;  gird  yourselves,  and  ye  shall 
be  broken  in  pieces.  Take  counsel  together,  and  it  shall  come 
to  nought;  speak  the  word,  and  it  shall  not  stand ;  for  God  is 
with  us.'     Immanuel  is  our  security  from  every  danger. 

The  Jews,  in  none  of  the  provinces  of  the  king's  dominions, 
laid  their  hand  upon  the  spoil.  They  had  been  in  great  fear 
of  death,  and  they  thought  it  a  great  matter  to  have  their  lives 
saved,  without  making  gain  of  their  enemies.  'The  life,'  says 
our  Lord,  'is  more  than  meat,  and  the  body  than  raiment.' 
When  men  are  in  extreme  danger  of  their  lives,  or  have  newly 
escaped  from  it,  money  goes  for  little.  Were  we  possessed 
with  a  due  concern  about  deliverance  from  that  sentence  of 
death  which  has  passed  upon  all  men,  or  with  a  fervent  grati- 
tude for  deliverance  from  so  great  a  death,  our  attachment  to 
the  things  of  the  present  world  would  be  greatly  weakened. 
What  will  money  avail  us,  if  we  must  perish?  If  we  are  re- 
deemed  from  destruction,  we  will  be  happy  ana  thankful, 


310  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XIV. 

whether  we  possess  much  or  little,  or  nothing  at  all,  of  the 
good  things  that  perish  in  the  using. 

Christians  have  often  censured  the  whole  body  of  the  Jews, 
as  men  of  a  selfish  and  rapacious  spirit.  The  charge  has,  pro- 
bably, exceeded  truth.  But,  as  far  as  occasion  has  been  given 
for  it,  it  has  been  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  oppressions 
exercised  upon  that  unhappy  nation,  which  have  irritated  their 
spirits,  and  weakened  or  destroyed  their  sense  of  justice  to- 
wards those  whom  they  considered  as  their  enemies.  Certain 
it  is,  that  they  were  far  from  discovering  a  rapacious  spirit  in 
the  days  of  Esther.  Many  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  might 
learn  from  them  to  set  their  minds  on  things  above,  rather 
than  on  things  of  the  earth.  They  chose  to  adorn  their  pro- 
fession, by  making  it  apparent  that  they  sought  not  riches  by 
means  which  they  disapproved,  although  they  would  have  ap- 
peared safe  and  honourable  to  any  others  but  themselves. 

Verse  17. — On  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar;  and  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  the  same  rested  they^  and  made  it  a  day  of 
feasting  and  gladness. 

On  the  thirteenth  day  they  fought  for  their  lives,  and  on 
the  fourteenth  they  rested  and  rejoiced  in  their  preservation 
and  victory.  The  battle  was  probably  sore  in  some  places 
where  their  enemies  were  strong  and  many;  but  every  where 
they  gained  the  victory,  and  the  joys  of  God's  salvation  were 
an  abundant  recompence  for  their  toils  and  dangers.  Let  all 
God's  people  patiently  endure  the  tribulations  assigned  to 
them,  and  courageously  fight  those  battles  which  they  are 
culled  to  sustain.  There  is  hope  in  their  latter  end,  and  the 
greater  their  fight  of  affliction,  the  sweeter  is  that  rest  which 
the  Lord  will  give  from  their  sorrows  and  fears.  Jesus  fought 
and  conquered,  and  entered  into  his  rest;  and  *  it  is  a  faithful 
saying,  that  if  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  also  reign  with 
him;'  and,  before  the  time  of  reigning  with  him  is  come,  we 
may  hope  that  in  this  world  days  of  rest  and  joy  will  often 
succeed  nights  of  sore  affliction;  Isa.  iv.  3:  Psalm  cxxv.  3: 
Isa.  Ivii.  15,  IG:  Chap.  xl.  1,  2. 

Verse  18. — But  the  Jews  that  were  at  Shushan  assembled  to- 
gether, on  the  thirteenth  day  thereof  and  on  the  fourteenth  thereof; 


CHAP.  IX.  6-19.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  311 

and  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  they  rested ,  and  made  it  a  day 
of  feasting  and  gladness. 

The  Jews  of  Shushan  did  not  so  soon  obtain  rest,  as  the 
Jews  of  the  provinces.  They  were  fighting  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  month,  when  their  brethren  were  resting  and  de- 
lighting themselves  in  the  abundance  of  God's  goodness.  Yet 
they  rested  at  last,  and  had  as  good  a  day  on  the  fifteenth  as 
their  brethren  had  on  the  fourteenth.  We  must  wait  God's 
time  for  days  of  rest  and  gladness,  and  His  time  is  always  the 
best.  It  was  good  for  the  Jews  at  Shushan  to  be  employed 
two  days  in  encountering  and  destroying  their  enemies.  Their 
rest  was  the  more  pleasant  when  it  came,  that  they  had  made 
an  utter  end  of  those  who  plotted  against  their  life. 

The  day  of  feasting  and  rest  was  sweetened  by  the  preceding 
days  of  labour  and  fear.  Pleasant  is  health  after  sickness. 
Safety  is  delightful  after  extreme  danger;  and  gladness  is 
double  joy  to  those  whose  souls  were  depressed  with  sorrow. 
In  days  of  prosperity  it  is  good  to  look  back  to  days  of  ad- 
versity, that  we  may  feel  the  value  of  our  present  enjoyments, 
and  that  our  hearts  may  be  filled  with  the  praises  of  him  who 
hath  turned  our  darkness  into  light,  and  our  mourning  into 
dancing. 

Verse  19. — Therefore  the  Jews  of  the  villages,  that  dwelt  in  the 
unwalled  towns,  made  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  a  day 
of  gladness  and  feasting,  and  a  good  day,  and  of  sending  portions 
one  to  another. 

Their  hearts  overflowed  with  joy  and  gladness.  They  wished 
never  to  forget  what  God  had  done  for  them,  and  therefore 
they  resolved  annually  to  observe  that  day  on  which  they  had 
obtained  joy  and  gladness,  as  a  day  of  joy,  and  of  the  exercise 
of  mutual  benevolence.  We  ought  never  to  forget  the  happy 
chano;es  which  God  has  made  in  our  condition.  Often  should 
we  call  back  to  our  remembrance  the  mercies  of  former  days. 
This  will  be  our  wisdom  and  our  happiness.  It  will  be  a- 
frequent  renewal  of  former  joys,  and  a  means  of  preserving 
alive  that  gratitude  which  we  owe  to  the  God  of  our  mercies. 


312  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XV. 


DISCOURSE  XV. 


ORDINANCE  OF  MORDECAI  AND    ESTHER    FOR    OBSERVING    THE  DAYS 

OF  PURIM. 

CHAPTER  IX.  20-32. 

Verses  20,  21. — And  Mordecai  wrote  these  things,  and  sent 
letters  unto  all  the  Jews  tJiat  were  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  king 
AhasueruSy  both  nigh  and  far,  to  stablish  this  among  them,  that 
they  shoidd  l-eep  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar,  and  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  same,  yearly, — 

Some  of  those  days  of  the  year  in  which  God  appeared  in 
the  glory  of  his  power  to  his  people,  by  working  signal  de- 
liverances for  them,  or  by  giving  them  signal  testimonies  of 
his  favour,  were  appointed  by  him  to  be  annually  observed  as 
days  consecrated  to  his  honour.  Thus  the  Passover  was  a  yearly 
comniemoration  of  the  redemption  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  and 
the  Pentecost  of  the  giving  of  the  law. 

But  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  men  to  give  holiness  to  a 
day.  God  alone,  therefore,  has  authority  to  appoint  stated 
days  for  religious  services.  He  alone  can  bless  such  days  as 
means  of  spiritual  improvement.  Without  His  presence  and 
blessing,  we  meet  together  for  the  worse,  and  not  for  the  better; 
and  therefore  we  must  be  assured,  when  we  expect  his  blessing, 
that  we  have  his  warrant  for  our  meetings.  That  occasional 
fasts  and  thanksgivings,  on  proper  calls  of  providence,  may 
and  ought  to  be  appointed  by  public  authority  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt;  but  stated  fasts  or  thanksgivings  can  be  war- 
rantably  appointed  by  no  less  authority  than  His,  on  whose 
bhoulders  the  government  of  the  churches  is  laid.     We  must 


CHAP.  IX.  20-32.]  BOOK   OF  ESTHER.  313 

observe  all  things  whatsoever  He  has  commanded  us,  and  noth- 
ing else,  as  a  religious  ordinance,  and,  lo!  he  will  be  with  us 
always. 

But  why,  then,  did  Mordecai  appoint  the  feast  of  Purim? 
Surely  Mordecai  could  not  take  it  upon  him  to  appoint  a  re- 
ligious festival  without  a  divine  warrant.  He  knew  that  neither 
Joshua  nor  David  had  appointed  holy-days  to  be  annually 
observed  by  the  nation,  as  commemorations  of  their  glorious 
victories,  or  of  the  happy  settlement  of  the  people  in  conse- 
quence of  their  victories.  He  knew  that  Moses  himself,  the 
lawgiver  of  the  nation,  had  appointed  no  solemn  feasts  by  his 
own  authority.  He  would  not  even  authorise  those  who  could 
not  observe  the  passover  on  the  ordinary  day  to  observe  it  on 
another  day,  till  l:ie  had  received  commandment  about  it  from 
heaven. 

We  must  conclude,  therefore,  either  that  Mordecai  was  au- 
thorised by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  appoint  this  festival ,  or,  which 
appears  rather  to  be  the  truth,  that  the  feast  of  Purim  was  not 
one  of  the  holy  festivals,  but  a  civil  festival  appointed  for  joy 
and  feasting,  in  commemoration  of  an  event  that  ought  never 
to  be  forgotten.  Mordecai  gave  no  orders  concerning  sacrifices 
to  be  offered  on  this  day,  or  even  concerning  any  act  of  re- 
ligious worship.  He,  doubtless,  hoped  that  thanksgiving  and 
praise  would  be  offered  to  God  on  every  return  of  this  joyful 
festival,  but  did  not  reckon  himself  authorised  to  publish  a 
law  for  this  purpose.  His  intention  was  to  perpetuate  the  re- 
membrance of  a  glorious  deliverance,  and  he  left  it  to  the  con- 
sciences and  grateful  feelings  of  the  people  to  determine  what 
acknowledgements  should  be  made  to  God,  according  to  the 
general  rules  of  his  word. 

Mordecai  wrote  to  the  people  far  and  near,  to  keep  both  the 
fourteenth  and  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  as  days 
of  rejoicing.  They  were  both  of  them  days  of  rest,  the  former 
day  in  the  provinces,  the  latter  in  Shushan ;  and  he  would  have 
the  people,  in  every  part  of  the  world,  to  remember,  not  only 
their  own  particular  deliverance,  or  those  which  their  fathers 
obtained,  but  deliverances  granted  to  others  of  their  people. 
Jews  were  bound,  and  Christians  are  surely  not  less  bound,  to 


314  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XV. 

consider  themselves  as  members  one  of  another,  and  to  con- 
sider the  mercies  bestowed  upon  their  brethren  as  mercies  to 
themselves. 

Verse  22. — As  the  days  wherein  the  Jews  rested  from  their  en- 
emies, and  the  month  which  was  turned  unto  them  from  sorrow  to 
joy,  and  from  mourning  into  a  good  day:  that  they  should  make 
Uiem  days  of  feasting  and  joy,  and  of  sending  portions  one  to 
another,  and  gifts  to  the  poor. 

All  things  work  together  for  good  to  the  people  of  God,  by 
promoting  their  happiness,  as  well  as  their  holiness.  The  re- 
membrance of  their  toils  sweetens  the  rest  w^hich  succeeds  them. 
The  sleep  of  the  labouring  man  is  sweet,  although  he  should 
sup  sparingly  before  he  goes  to  rest.  The  tears  which  the 
Christian  must  often  shed  are  remembered  with  joy,  when  they 
are  wiped  away  by  returning  prosperity.  Mordecai  wished 
the  Jews  to  be  ever  mindful  of  their  sorrows,  that  their  joy 
might  be  full. 

The  days  of  Purim  were  intended  to  be  days  of  feasting  and 
gladness.  In  the  season  of  their  distress,  they  would  scarcely 
be  able  to  eat  that  bread  which  was  necessary  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  life:  when  they  thought  of  their  deliverance,  and 
of  the  mercy  of  God  in  their  deliverance,  they  would  eat  their 
bread  with  gladness,  and  drink  their  wine  with  merry  hearts. 

Tliese  days  were  to  be  days  of  sending  portions  one  to  another. 
Their  common  danger,  and  their  common  deliverance,  would 
endear  them  to  one  another,  and  open  their  hearts  to  mutual 
kindness.  How  much  more  ought  our  common  salvation  by 
Christ  from  our  general  misery,  to  bind  the  hearts  of  Chris- 
tians to  one  another.  We  were  all  involved  in  guilt  and  ruin 
by  sin,  and  the  same  sin  was  the  source  of  misery  to  us  all. 
We  are  all  redeemed  by  the  same  precious  blood ;  we  are  all 
saved  by  the  same  Almighty  arm:  Let  our  common  joy  in 
Christ's  salvation  overflow  in  mutual  love.  If  we  are  pene- 
trated with  the  love  of  Christ,  will  we  not  love  all  those  who 
are  tlie  objects  of  the  same  exceeding  riches  of  grace? 

Sending  of  gifts  to  the  poor,  was  to  be  another  of  the  duties 
of  til  is  happy  day.  There  might  be  many  poor  Jews,  who 
were  nut  able  to  afford  an  entertainment  for  this  day  of  joy. 


CHAP.  IX.  20-32.]  BOOK  OF   ESTHEK.  315 

But  Mordecai  would  have  the  poor  to  rejoice  as  well  as  the 
rich.  Although  we  find  our  circumstances  unprosperous,  we 
must  not  on  that  account  reckon  that  we  have  no  riirht,  or 
that  we  are  not  bound,  to  rejoice  in  public  mercies.  That  the 
poor  may  not  be  tempted  to  repine  when  others  rejoice,  as  if 
they  were  cut  oif  from  the  public  happiness,  we  should  be 
ready  to  communicate  to  them  a  share  of  our  blessings,  es- 
pecially when  our  hearts  overflow  with  joy  in  God's  goodness 
to  ourselves.  Why  should  the  rich  eat  their  morsel  alone, 
whilst  others  are  pining  with  hunger?  If  you  desire  the  con- 
tinuance of  your  own  happiness  from  divine  mercy,  endeavour 
to  diffuse  it  by  wise  liberality.  Every  expression  of  divine 
goodness  to  ourselves  is  a  new  obligation  laid  upon  us  to  do 
good,  to  those  especially  who  have  most  need  of  our  bounty. 
Above  all,  the  redemption  by  Christ  binds  us  to  be  merciiul; 
2  Cor.  viii.  9. 

Verse  23. — And  the  Jews  undertook  to  do  as  they  had  heguiij 
and  as  Mordecai  had  written  unto  them; — 

They  cheerfully  promised  to  comply  with  Mordecai's  wishes, 
both  from  a  regard  to  his  authority,  and  from  a  lively  sense  of 
the  mercy  bestowed  upon  them.  It  is  a  happy  thing  when 
superiors  require  nothing  from  their  inferiors  but  what  them- 
selves see  to  be  just  and  reasonable. 

Mordecai's  letters  could  not  but  have  a  mighty  influence 
upon  a  nation  who  were  indebted  to  him  for  their  lives.  lie 
could  not  be  blamed  for  bringing  them  into  the  dangers  which 
they  had  escaped,  because  it  was  his  steadfast  adherence  to  his 
duty  which  provoked  Ilaman's  wrath.  But  he  deserved  no 
less  praise  than  Esther  herself  for  their  i^reservation.  Grati- 
tude will  induce  us  to  do  many  things  for  those  who  have  been 
the  instruments  of  preserving  our  lives.  What  shall  we  ren- 
der to  the  Author  of  our  lives,  and  to  him  who  hath  redeemed 
our  lives  from  destruction? 

Verse  24. — Because  Hamaiiy  the  son  of  TIammedatha  the 
Agagite,  the  enemy  oj  all  the  Jews,  had  devised  against  the  Jews 
to  destroy  them,  and  had  cast  Pur  (that  is,  the  lot)  to  consume  thon, 
and  to  destroy  them; — 

Ti)o  remembrance  of  Haman's  fearful  plot  against  all  the 


316  DISCOtTESES  ON-  THE  [dISC.  XY. 

Jews,  powerfully  instigated  them  to  observe  those  days  of  joy 
that  wore  appointed  by  Mordecai.  When  they  considered  how 
formidable  the  enemy  had  been,  and  how  bent  upon  their  de- 
struction, they  could  not  think  of  their  deliverance  without 
surprise,  and  joy,  and  thankfulness. 

It  would  be  useful  to  us  for  increasing  our  joy  in  the  Lord, 
to  think  upon  those  enemies  of  the  church  that  have  often 
brought  her  into  extreme  dangers,  that  we  may  see  the  glory 
of  that  grace  and  power  to  which  she  is  indebted  for  existence. 
If  we  think  upon  the  Pharaohs,  the  Hamans,  the  Sennacheribs, 
the  Antiochuses,  the  Dioclesians,  the  beast  with  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns,  that  have  opened  their  mouths  like  dragons  to 
swallow  up  the  people  of  God,  will  we  not  see  good  reason  still 
to  sing  that  song  of  ancient  times? — 'Many  a  time  have  they 
afflicted  me  from  my  youth,  may  Israel  now  say;  many  a  time 
have  they  afflicted  me  from  my  youth  ;  yet  they  have  not  pre- 
vailed against  me.' 

Haman  was  the  cause  of  much  terror  to  the  Jews,  but  this 
terror  ended  in  triumphs  and  joyful  feasts.  Unhappy  are  the 
enemies  of  the  people  of  God.  They  labour  for  the  profit  of 
those  whom  they  hate.  Amongst  those  things  that  are  made 
subservient  to  the  advantage  of  the  people  of  God,  are  to  be 
ranked  all  the  devices  of  their  most  malicious  enemies,  Satan 
himself,  their  greatest  enemy,  not  excepted.  Sennacherib  was 
a  tremendous  enemy  of  Judah,  and  struck  terror  into  the  minds 
of  the  most  valiant  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  But  what 
was  the  event  of  his  formidable  invasion?  Disgrace  and  ruin 
to  himself,  gladness  and  joyful  feasts  to  the  Jews;  as  Isaiah 
foretold,  when  he  was  marching  along  in  all  the  pride  of  his 
heart  at  the  head  of  his  innumerable  army,  collected  from  his 
extended  dominions:  'They  had  a  song,  as  in  the  night  when 
a  holy  solemnity  is  kept;  and  gladness  of  heart,  as  when  one 
goeth  with  a  pipe  to  come  into  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  mighty  One  of  Israel.' 

V  (Tse  25. — But  when  Esther  came  before  the  king,  he  com- 
manded by  lettern  that  his  wicked  device  which  he  had  devised 
ufjaind  the  Jews  should  return  upon  his  own  head,  and  that  he 
and  his  sons  s/tould  be  hanged  on  the  gallows. 


CHAP.  LS.  20-32.]         BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  317 

In  Mordecai^s  letters,  lie  puts  the  Jews  in  mind,  not  only 
of  Haman's  plot  against  them,  but  of  the  means  also  by  which 
it  was  disconcerted.  Let  us  observe  and  call  to  mind  the  pro- 
cedure of  the  providence  of  God  in  the  works  which  he  ac- 
complishes for  his  church,  or  for  ourselves  in  particular.  Every 
step  of  his  goings  of  majesty  deserves  to  be  remarked  and  ad- 
mired.    They  are  all  beautified  with  wisdom  and  grace. 

^yho  could  have  expected  that  Esther,  whom  the  king  had 
not  desired  to  see  for  thirty  days,  should  obtain  such  favour 
in  his  eyes,  as  to  turn  his  wrath  against  his  favourite  Haman, 
whose  face  he  saw  every  day  with  smiles?  Yet,  when  Esther 
came  before  the  king,  the  mischief  of  Haman  was  turned  upon 
himself,  and  he  and  his  sons  were  hanged  on  the  gallows.  Let 
us  do  our  duty,  and  leave  the  consequence  to  God.  Without 
the  protection  of  his  providence,  Esther  would  have  fallen 
under  the  sentence  of  that  cruel  law  which  made  the  king  in- 
accessible to  his  subjects.  But  her  life  was  preserved  by  that 
God  to  whom  she  had  poured  out  her  soul  in  fasting.  She  did 
great  things,  and  prevailed;  and  her  name  shall  live  to  the 
latest  posterity  in  the  records  of  those  heroes  and  heroines, 
who  ^wrought  righteousness,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  and  turned  to  flight  the 
armies  of  the  aliens.' 

^Wherever  this  gospel  is  preached,'  said  Jesus,  ^ there  shall 
also  this  that  this  woman  (who  poured  precious  ointment  on 
his  head)  hath  done  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her.'  Mordecai 
hoped,  that  what  Esther  had  done  would  be  told  in  every 
succeeding  generation  to  her  honour;  and  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  women,  as  well  a&  men,  to  do  every  thing  in  their 
power  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  church.  Women  are  too 
ready  to  say.  What  can  we  do  to  serve  the  public  interest?  our 
mode  of  life  confines  us  to  our  own  families.  But  Esther  is 
not  the  only  woman  that  has  gained  just  praises  by  her  public 
spirit.  Lemuel's  mother  taught  her  son  to  be  a  blessing  to 
his  people,  and  has  left  lessons  behind  her,  by  which  women,  to 
the  end  of  the  world^  will  be  taught  to  excel  in  virtue.  To 
Priscilla,  as  well  as  to  Aquila,  all  the  churches  of  the  Gentiles 
gave  thanks  for  what  she  did  for  Paul;  and  many  of  them  had 


318  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XV. 

reason  to  thank  her  for  what  she  did  to  Apollos  likewise. 
:\Iales  and  females  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  They  are  equally 
saved  by  his  grace;  they  are  equally  obliged  to  promote  his 
interest  in  the  exercise  of  virtue,  and  the  practice  of  duties  suited 
to  their  respective  situations ;  and  women,  as  well  as  men,  have 
sometimes  found  singular  opportunites  of  service  to  their  gen- 
eration, which  they  could  not  safely  neglect  to  improve. 

Verse  26. —  Wherefore  they  called  these  days  Pwdmj  after  the 
name  of  Fur. 

The  very  name  of  these  days  afforded  a  useful  lesson  to  the 
people  of  God,  and  might  have  afforded  a  useful  lesson  to  their 
enemies.  It  appeared  from  the  event  of  the  lots  which  gave 
name  to  this  day,  that  although  time  and  chance  happen  to  all 
men,  yet  nothing  is  contingent  to  God.  Chance  is  under  his 
management,  and  those  things  which  to  us  appear  most  acci- 
dental, are  managed  by  his  providence  to  accomplish  his  de- 
signs of  mercy  to  them  that  love  him,  and  of  vengeance  to  his 
enemies.  Why,  then,  should  the  friends  of  God  give  them- 
selves any  anxious  trouble  about  the  most  uncertain  events? 
'J'lic  whole  disposal  of  the  lot  is  of  Him.  Haman^s  lots  di- 
rected his  measures  to  his  own  destruction,  and  the  salvation 
of Judah. 

Verses  26,  27. — Therefore,  for  all  the  words  of  this  letter,  and 
of  that  which  they  had  seen  concerning  this  matter,  and  which  had 
come  unto  them,  the  Jeivs  ordained,  and  took  upon  them,  and  upon 
their  seed,  and  upon  all  such  as  joined  themselves  unto  them,  so  as 
it  f^hould  not  fail,  that  they  would  keep  these  two  days,  according 
to  their  writing,  and  according  to  their  appointed  time,  every  year. 

The  Jews,  partly  induced  by  Mordecai^s  letter,  and  partly 
l>y  what  they  had  seen  and  what  had  happened  to  them,  agreed 
that  the  observation  of  Purim  should  be  considered  as  an  or- 
<li nance  and  a  statute  in  Israel  throughout  every  generation. 
They  not  only  engaged  for  themselves,  but  for  their  seed,  and 
all  strangers  who  should  join  themselves  to  their  nation,  to 
observe  this  festival.  ^ 

Th{y  did  not  take  more  upon  themselves  than  there  was  a 
l)robability  of  accomplishing,  when  they  engaged  that  it  should 
not  fail.     When  a  joyful  festival   is  appointed   by  the  rulers, 


!2.]         BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  319 

with  the  cheerful  consent  of  the  people,  to  be  observed  an- 
nually, it  is  not  likely  to  foil  amongst  posterity,  if  the  occasion 
of  it  was  some  signal  revolution  in  favour  of  the  nation,  es- 
pecially if  the  very  existence  of  the  nation  depended  upon  it. 

It  may  be  justly  questioned,  whether  a  nation  can  bind  their 
posterity  to  any  thing  further  than  the  laws  of  religion,  jus- 
tice, and  good  order  in  society,  bind  them.  But  posterity 
would  not  too  narrowly  inquire  how  far  the  authority  of  their 
fathers  extended,  in  a  matter  no  less  agreeable  to  themselves 
than  to  their  progenitors.  This,  however,  is  certain,  that 
when  men  command  their  children  and  their  seed  after  them 
to  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  future  generations  cannot  turn 
aside  from  the  good  old  way  of  their  ancestors,  without  greatly 
aggravated  guilt;  Jer.  ii.  10-13. 

The  Jews  expected  that  proselytes  would  observe  the  fes- 
tival with  no  less  joy  than  the  posterity  of  Abraham.  If  we 
have  joined  ourselves  to  the  church,  we  ought  to  consider  our- 
selves as  deeply  interested  in  all  the  ancient  as  well  as  the 
later  dealings  of  God  with  her.  We  partake  of  the  root  and 
fatness  of  the  olive,  and  therefore  ought  to  bless  God  for  all  the 
care  he  hath  taken  of  this  tree  of  righteousness,  which  by  his 
goodness  has  been  so  long  preserved  from  destruction,  and  made 
to  flourish  in  beauty,  and  abound  in  branches  and  fruit. 

Verse  28. — And  that  these  days  should  be  remembered  and  Icept 
throughout  every  generation,  every  family,  every  province,  and  every 
city;  and  that  these  days  of  Purim  should  not  fail  from  among 
the  Jews,  nor  the  memorial  of  them  perish  from  their  seed. 

Not  only  did  the  Jews  resolve  and  promise  to  observe  these 
days,  but  they  did  every  thing  in  their  power  to  promote  the 
observance  of  them  in  every  province  and  city  where  any  of 
their  brethren  dwelt,  and  to  perpetuate  the  observance  of  them 
among  their  seed.  Such  was  the  pleasure  they  felt  for  their 
deliverance,  and  such  their  gratitude  to  God  their  deliverer, 
that  they  wished  all  their  brethren^  wherever  they  were  scat- 
tered, to  rejoice  with  them,  and  to  magnify  the  Lord  together. 
Their  posterity,  to  the  latest  generatioH,  could  not  fail,  they 
thought,  whilst  these  days  were  observed,  to  admire,  to  praise, 
to  glorify  the  God  of  their  fathers,  their  King  of  old,  by  whom 


320  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XV. 

manifold  i^al  vat  ions  had  been  wrought  in  the  midst  of  the  earth, 
Tlu'v  would,  whilst  this  deliverance  was  recent,  be  disposed  to 
think  that  none  of  the  ancient  salvations  was  more  worthy  of 
remembrance ;  and  that  as  they  had  no  authority  to  appoint 
any  religious  festival  for  the  commemoration  of  it,  they  could 
not  do  less  than  concur  in  the  appointment  of  a  common  fes- 
tival, which  would  annually  recal  it  to  mind. 

Verse  29. — Then  Esther  the  queen^  the  daughter  of  Abihailj 
and  Mordccai  the  Jew,  wrote  with  all  authority y  to  confirm  this 
second  letter  of  Purim. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  suppose,  that  either  Esther  or  Mordecai 
had  their  own  glory  in  view,  when  they  were  at  such  pains  to 
promote  and  perpetuate  the  observance  of  the  feast  of  Purim. 
It  would  be  unjust,  as  well  as  uncharitable,  to  ascribe  such 
selfish  intentions  to  persons  who  had  laid  down  their  necks 
for  the  honour  of  their  God,  and  for  the  deliverance  of  their 
people. 

That  their  design  was  good  in  writing  the  second  letter  of 
Purim  with  all  authority,  cannot  be  reasonably  doubted.  It 
may,  indeed,  admit  of  question,  whether  they  did  not  expect 
more  than  prudence  could  justify  them  in  expecting,  from  the 
perpetual  observance  of  this  feast.  They  probably  thought, 
that  whilst  the  memory  of  the  wonders  of  the  month  of  Adar 
continued,  all  posterity  would  abound  in  thanksgivings  to  God. 
The  reverse  has  been  the  case.  The  feast  of  Purim  has  lonsj 
since  been  turned  into  a  drunken  revel.  The  blinded  Jews,  it 
is  said,  lay  it  down  as  a  maxim.  That  they  ought  to  be  drunken 
with  wine  in  remembrance  of  Esther's  banquet.  How  strange 
IS  It  for  human  creatures  to  think  that  they  are  delivered  to 
work  ab(jmi nation! 

Esther  and  Mordecai  ^  wrote  with  all  authority.'  They 
tiiought  that  they  could  not  use  their  power  for  a  better  pur- 
pose, tiian  to  j)erpetuate  the  remembrance  of  that  day  when 
(jod  delivered  their  souls  from  death,. their  eyes  from  tears, 
and  their  feet  from  falling.  But  in  the  exercise  of  their  au- 
tliorily,  they  forgot  not  that  kindness  which  was  due  to  their 
brethren,  the  Israel  of  God. 

Verse  ZO,—And  he  sent  the  letters  unto  all  the  Jews,  to  the 


CHAP.  IX.   20-32.]         BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  32 1 

hundred  twenty  and  seven  provinces  of  the  kingdom  of  Ahasuerus^ 
ivith  words  of  peace  and  truth, — 

When  we  are  exalted  above  our  brethren,  we  are  too  ready 
to  forget  both  them  and  ourselves,  as  if  the  change  of  our  con- 
dition had  raised  us  to  a  higher  rank  of  creatures.  Mordecai 
and  his  adopted  daughter  were  not  negligent  in  the  exerci.sc 
of  their  authority  for  purposes  that  appeared  to  them  good  and 
salutary  to  the  nation  ;  but  they  still  retained  their  humble- 
ness of  mind,  and  their  kind  affections  to  their  kindred.  They 
sent  these  letters  to  all  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pro- 
vinces, ^  with  words  of  truth  and  peace ;'  with  expressions  of 
the  warmest  benevolence.  Nor  were  these  expressions,  like 
many  of  our  mutual  compliments,  merely  dictated  by  a  polite- 
ness which  too  often  conceals  a  perfect  indifference  to  our 
neighbour's  welfare  under  good  words  and  fair  speeches.  Their 
words  were  words  of  truth,  as  well  as  of  peace,  when  they  ex- 
pressed their  desires  and  prayers,  that  the  Lord  might  bless 
his  people  with  peace. 

Let  men  maintain  that  authority  which  God  hath  given 
them,  that  they  may  attain  the  ends  for  which  it  is  given  them; 
but  let  it  be  always  tempered  with  charity  and  gentleness. 
Paul,  in  his  epistles,  asserts  his  authority  as  an  apostle  of  Je- 
sus Christ;  but  he  writes  with  words  of  peace  and  truth,  when 
he  prays  for  grace  and  peace  to  the  churches  from  God  the 
Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Verse  31. — To  confirm  these  days  of  Purim  in  their  times  ap- 
j)ointedj  according  as  Mordecai  the  Jew  and  Esther  the  queen  had 
enjoined  them,  and  as  they  had  decreed  for  themselves,  and  for. 
their  seedy  the  matters  of  the  fastings  and  their  cry. 

At  the  motion  of  Mordecai,  the  Jews  were  unanimously  de- 
termined to  observe  the  festival,  and  to  enjoin  the  observance 
of  it  to  their  posterity.  The  Jews  were  confirmed  in  their 
resolution  by  the  second  letter  of  Mordecai,  in  conjunction  with 
Esther.  And  one  consideration  which  would  dispose  them  to 
observe  the  commemoration  of  this  deliverance  with  joy  and 
exultation,  was,  that  they  had  fasted  and  cried  for  it  under  the 
pressure  of  the  danger.  They  could  not  eat  their  ordinary 
food.  They  cried  out  with  exceeding  loud  and  bitter  cries. 
21 


322  DISCOURSES   ON   THE  [dISC.  XV. 

They  fasted  and  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  heard  the  voice 
of  their  supplications. 

Spring  is  the  pleasantest  season  of  the  year,  because  it  fol- 
lows the  dreary  desolations,  and  the  piercing  cold  of  winter. 
Those  davs  of  health  are  especially  delightful  which  follow 
davs  of  extreme  sickness,  when  we  had  the  sentence  of  death 
in  ourselves.  Remember  the  dismal  thoughts  that  engrossed 
your  minds,  the  terrifying  apprehensions  that  embittered  your 
troubles,  and  the  exquisite  felicity  which  you  promised  to 
yourselves,  if  it  should  please  God,  beyond  your  expectations, 
to  send  you  relief  Thus  will  the  troubles  you  have  endured 
spread  happiness  in  the  retrospect  over  the  remaining  part  of 
your  life.  You  still  must  meet  with  trials;  but  you  will  be 
thankful  that  they  are  so  light  and  easy  to  be  borne,  when 
thev  are  compared  with  those  which  you  have  formerly  endured. 

Have  you  fasted  and  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  has  He  gracious- 
ly inclined  his  ear  to  your  complaints?  With  what  joy  and 
peace  ought  you  to  recollect  the  mercy  which  has  preserved  you 
from  going  down  to  the  chambers  of  the  grave,  perhaps  to  the 
regions  of  destruction !  David  will  teach  you  what  improve- 
ment to  make  of  your  fasting  and  cries,  when  the  Lord  has 
been  pleased  to  grant  you  the  deliverance  which  you  suppli- 
cated :  ^  I  love  the  Lord,  because  he  hath  heard  my  voice  and 
supplications.  Because  he  hath  inclined  his  ear  unto  me, 
tlierefore  will  I  call  upon  him  so  long  as  I  live.  The  sorrows 
of  death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of  hell  gat  hold  upon 
me;  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow.  Then  called  I  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord:  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  deliver  my  soul  I 
Gracious  is  the  Lord,  and  righteous ;  yea,  our  God  is  merci- 
t'lil.  The  Lord  preserveth  the  simple:  I  was  brought  low  and 
he  helped  me:  I  will  walk  before  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the 
living';  Psalm  cxvi.  1-6,  and  9:  Psal.  xviii.  xxx.  Isa.  xxxviii. 
11-20. 

Verse  32. — And  the  decree  of  Esther  confirmed  these  matters 
of  Purim  ;  and  it  was  written  in  the  book. 

"I  he  high  and  beloved  name  of  Esther  was  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  decree  of  Purim.  She  had  been  the  saviour  of  the 
Jews.     At  the  risk  of  her  life  she  had  preserved  theirs.    What 


CHAP.  IX.  20-32.]         BOOK    OF    ESTHER.  323 

do  we  not  owe  to  Him  who,  not  merely  by  endangering  his 
life,  but  by  giving  up  himself  to  an  accursed  death,  hath  de- 
livered us  from  the  wrath  to  come? 

And  it  was  written  in  the  booh  of  the  Jewish  institutions,  or 
in  the  register  of  the  Jewish  transactions.  Books  are  neces- 
sary for  recording  those  things  that  are  intended  for  the  use 
of  posterity.  Were  it  not  for  books,  we  would  all  be  children 
in  understanding.  Let  us  carefully  improve  those  things  that 
were  written  aforetimes  for  our  learning,  especially  those  things 
which  divine  wisdom  hath  directed  the  holy  men  of  God  to 
record  for  our  benefit. 

The  feast  of  Purim  is  still  observed,  though  not  in  a  man- 
ner agreeable  to  Esther's  intention.  The  observance  of  this 
and  other  festivals  of  the  Jews,  from  the  most  ancient  times, 
is  attended  with  this  great  advantage,  that  it  affords  a  con- 
vincing argument  of  the  truth  of  those  facts  which  they  were 
designed  to  commemorate,  when  we  take  this  into  the  account, 
that  these  facts  were  recorded  in  books  at  the  time  when  they 
were  instituted  which  are  still  extant.  The  observance  of 
the  ancient  Jewish  feasts  is  a  public  declaration  of  the  firm 
belief  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  rational  arguments  of  the 
truth  of  our  holy  religion.  If  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
are  true,  the  Messiah  expected  by  the  Jews  is  come  long  ago 
into  the  world ;  and  none  but  Jesus  of  Nazareth  can  be  that 
Messiah.  Tlius  the  most  determined  enemies  of  Jesus  give  a 
decided,  though  indirect  testimony,  that  he  is  the  Son  of  God, 
by  attesting  the  truth  and  divine  authority  of  those  ancient 
Scriptures  that  testify  of  him. 


324  DISCOUESES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XVI. 


DISCOURSE  XVI 


GREATNESS  OF    AHASUERUS— CHARACTER    AND    GRANDEUR    OF    MOR- 

DECAI. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Verse  1. — And  the  king  Ahasuerus  laid  a  tribute  upon  the 
land,  and  upon  the  isles  of  the  sea. 

Too  many  subjects  are  disgusted  with  the  governments  under 
which  they  live,  when  new  taxes  are  imposed.  Here  we  find, 
tliat  the  increase  of  taxes  is  no  new  thing,  and  that  it  may  be 
necessary  under  the  best  and  wisest  governments.  When  the 
tribute  here  spoken  of  was  laid  upon  the  land,  and  upon  the 
isles  of  the  sea,  Ahasuerus  had  his  counsels  directed,  not  by 
Haman,  but  by  Mordecai.  Ahasuerus  might  perhaps  have 
saved  his  subjects  their  new  burdens,  if  he  had  been  more  fru- 
gal in  his  expenses.  The  multitude  of  his  concubines  must 
have  put  him  to  a  very  great,  and  a  worse  than  needless  expense ; 
Chap.  ii.  He  was  liberal  in  his  donations.  His  wars  could 
uot  be  carried  on  without  great  sums;  and  when  his  wars 
with  the  Greeks  came  to  an  end,  he  expended  much  money  in 
political  intrigues,  to  preserve  himself  from  more  wars.  He 
therefore  found  it  necessary  to  lay  new  burdens  upon  his  sub- 
jects. But  the  protection  which  government  affords  makes 
the  payment  of  necessary  taxes  an  act  of  justice.  ^Kulers  are 
the  ministers  of  God  to  us  for  good ;  and  for  this  cause  we  must 
j)ay  them  tribute,  because  they  are  the  servants  of  God,  waiting 
continually  upon  this  very  thing.'  We  are  not  excused  from 
tin-,  duty  by  tlie  supposition  that  government  ought  to  be  more 
economical  than  it  is.  Who  of  us  does  not  sometimes  spend 
money  that  might  be  spared?    It  is  one  of  the  laws  of  the  Turk- 


CHAP.  X.]  BOOK   OF  ESTHER.  325 

ish  empire,  that  no  new  tributes  can  be  imposed  on  the  people. 
The  consequence  is,  that  when  their  government  must  have 
money,  it  must  be  raised  by  oppression  of  individuals,  who,  in 
their  turn,  indemnify  themselves  by  oppressing  others.  The 
Persians  were  much  more  wise,  when  they  allowed  a  tribute 
to  be  laid  upon  them  which  came  with  equal  weight  upon  all. 
*He  laid  a  tribute  upon  the  land,'  upon  the  vast  regions  on 
the  continent  under  the  Persian  empire,  and  upon  the  many 
^ isles  of  the  sea'  which  they  possessed.  A  burden  borne  by 
all  will  be  light,  when  it  would  be  unsupportable  to  a  few. 

Subjects  may,  under  unwise  governors,  have  too  much  reason 
to  complain  of  burdens  laid  upon  them;  Prov.  xxviii.  16;  yet 
complaints  of  this  kind  are  often  without  ground.  Rulers  can 
best  know  what  sums  are  requisite  for  the  honourable  support 
of  government,  and  for  the  defence  of  the  country.  Although 
we  think  our  burdens  heavy,  let  us  bear  them  conscientiously. 
We  claim  support  to  our  just  rights  from  government,  and 
must  not  defraud  it  of  its  own  rights;  Rom.  xiii.  6,  7. 

Verse  2. — And  all  the  acts  of  his  power,  and  of  his  might,  and 
the  declaration  of  the  greatness  of  Mordecai,  whereunto  the  king 
advanced  him,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia  f 

The  Bible  is  incomparably  the  best  of  all  books,  and  yet  it 
is  not  the  only  book  from  which  we  may  derive  instruction. 
Luther  wished  all  his  books  might  be  burnt,  rather  than  men 
should  be  kept  by  them  from  reading  the  Scriptures.  But 
we  may  daily  read  the  Scriptures,  and  find  some  time  likewise 
for  consulting  other  books.  We  find  the  apostle  Paul  quoting 
the  books  of  poets  and  philosophers;  Acts,  xvii.  28:  Titus,  1. 
12:  1  Cor.  xv.  33.  Here  the  inspired  writer  refers  to  the 
chronicles  of  Media  and  Persia  for  a  further  account  of  the 
power  and  greatness  of  Ahasuerus;  and  for  a  confirmation  of 
what  has  been  said  of  the  greatness  of  Mordecai.  AVe  are  often 
referred  by  the  sacred  writers  to  uninspired  histories  for  larger 
accounts  than  they  were  directed  to  give  us  of  the  lives  of  per- 
sons eminent  for  their  stations,  and  for  their  virtues  and  vices. 
Much  useful  instruction  is  to  be  drawn  from  credible  histories. 
We  learn  from  them  many  of  the  works  that  God  has  done  on 


326  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [DISC.  XVI. 

the  earth,  and  the  perfect  conformity  between  his  words  and 
works.  Many  examples  of  goodness  are  set  before  us,  which 
we  ou"-ht  to  imitate;  many  instances  of  vicious  conduct,  which 
we  ought  to  abhor. 

The  registers  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia  do  not  now  exist; 
but  the  reference  made  to  them  is  a  confirmation  of  the  history 
of  this  book.  The  writer  would  not  have  sent  his  contem- 
])oraries  to  the  public  records  for  further  information,  if  he 
had  written  any  thing  which  did  not  agree  with  them.  Learned 
men  have  made  a  happy  use  of  ancient  writings  of  heathens, 
as  well  as  of  Christians,  to  establish  the  authority  and  truth 
o^  Scripture,  in  opposition  to  infidels. 

Although  the  records  of  the  Persian  kings  are  lost,  we  have 
books  left  us  which  inform  us  of  the  greatness,  and  power,  and 
long  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  or  Ahasuerus,  the  husband  of  Esther. 
Many  worthy  deeds  were  done  by  him  to  the  church  of  God, 
as  we  are  informed  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah;  and  he  was  well 
rewarded  by  Divine  Providence.  The  prayers  of  the  people 
of  God  for  his  prosperity  were  heard. 

Althougli  we  have  no  account  of  Mordecai  in  the  Grecian 
histories  of  this  long  reign,  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  of  what 
is  said  concerning  him  in  this  book.  The  Greeks  had  but  a 
j)artial  acquaintance  with  the  affairs  of  the  Persian  court,  and 
the  most  ancient  Persian  histories,  written  by  Persians  them- 
selves, give  some  cause  to  suspect,  that  through  ignorance  or 
l)artiality  the  Greeks  have  frequently  omitted  or  misrepresented 
the  most  important  facts.  Mordecai  the  Jew,  and  Ezra,  and 
Neherniah,  had  access  to  the  knowledge  of  many  facts  con- 
cerning the  government  of  Ahasuerus,  that  were  unknown  to 
strangers. 

Verse  3. — For  Mordecai  the  Jew  was  next  unto  king  Ahas- 
^ierwt,  and  great  among  the  Jews,  and  accepted  of  the  multitude 
of  hui  brethren,  seeking  the  wealth  of  his  people,  and  speaking 
peace  to  all  his  seed. 

Mordecai  the  Jew  was  next  unto  king  Ahasuerus.  This  was 
wonderful;  a  puor  man  of  the  dispersion  of  Israel  was  raised 
high  ill  dignity,  by  the  favour  of  Ahasuerus,  above  all  the 
l)rinces  of  Persia.     The  elevation  of  men  from  the  lowest  to 


CHAP.  X.]  BOOK   OF   ESTHER.  327 

the  highest  rank  is  not  unusual  in  the  east,  even  at  present. 
But  Mordecai  professed  a  religion  which  seemed  an  unsur- 
mountable  obstruction  to  grandeur  in  a  land  of  heathens;  and 
he  held  it  so  firm,  that  he  would  not  conform  to  the  fashions 
of  the  court  in  any  thing  that  did  not  consist  with  a  good  con- 
science. Haman  hoped  that  all  the  men  whose  laws  and  cus- 
toms were  so  different  from  the  king's  laws  would  soon  be 
extirpated.  He  little  expected  that  one  of  the  most  inflexible 
adherents  to  those  laws  and  customs  would  supplant  and  suc- 
ceed him  in  the  king's  favour.  *  There  be  many  that  seek  the 
ruler's  favour^  with  such  eagerness,  that  they  will  bend  their 
consciences  into  a  ready  compliance  with  his  wishes,  whatev^er 
they  are;  'but  every  man's  judgment  cometh  from  the  Lord.' 
He  exalted  Daniel  and  Mordecai  in  the  courts  of  Babylon  and 
Shushan ;  and  these  were  men  that  would  not  have  turned  a 
hair-breadth  out  of  the  path  of  duty  to  please  any  prince  on 
earth.  Their  unshaken  firmness  might,  very  probably,  be  one 
cause  of  their  advancement.  Inflexibility  in  what  is  right 
must  be  a  respectable  quality  in  the  eyes,  not  only  of  the  good, 
but  of  every  man  of  sense. 

Ahasuerus  showered  favours  upon  Esther,  upon  Mordecai, 
upon  Ezra,  and  upon  Nehemiah,  and  yet  continued  all  his  days 
to  adhere  to  the  religion  of  his  fathers.  Herod  Antipas  did 
many  things  gladly  because  of  John  Baptist,  and  yet  he  was 
not  a  good  man.  Love  to  the  brethren  is  a  scriptural  mark 
of  a  saint;  but  men  that  are  not  saints  may  have  a  warm  at- 
tachment to  good  men,  on  account  of  qualities  that  all  the 
world  hold  in  esteem.  We  love  the  brethren,  when  we  love 
believers  as  the  children  of  God,  as  our  brethren  in  Christ, 
partakers  of  the  same  divine  nature.  But  integrity,  generosity, 
unshaken  constancy  in  virtue,  are  qualities  for  which  men  that 
have  not  passed  from  death  to  life  may  esteem  and  love  their 
neighbours,  whether  they  are  saints  or  not. 

Mordecai  ivas  great  among  the  Jews,  and  accepted  of  the  mid- 
titude  of  his  brethren. — They  venerated  and  loved  him  as  the 
saviour  of  their  nation,  as  their  father  and  protector.  Envy 
too  often  attends  the  exaltation  of  one's  equals.  Joseph's  breth- 
ren would  rather  murder  him,  or  sell  him  to  strangers,  than 


328  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  [dISC.  XVI. 

see  him  advanced  above  themselves.  Ingratitude  too  often 
follows  the  greatest  benefactions.  The  children  of  Israel  re- 
quited evil  to  the  house  of  Gideon  for  the  deliverance  wrought 
for  them  from  the  hands  of  the  Midianites,  at  the  risk  of  his 
life.  But  Mordecai  met  with  returns  of  the  sincerest  gratitude 
from  the  multitude  of  his  brethren.  He  still  behaved  to  them 
as  a  brother,  and  they  considered  him  both  as  their  brother 
and  their  prince. 

It  was  a  great  happiness  to  the  good  man  that  he  was  ac- 
cepted of  the  multitude  of  his  brethren;  for  'a  good  name  is 
better  than  precious  ointment,  and  loving  favour  is  rather  to 
be  chosen  than  silver  and  ^old.'  This,  however,  is  a  happi- 
ness not  always  to  be  expected  by  good  men;  and  therefore, 
as  our  Lord  teaches  us,  we  must  learn  to  do  good  without  the 
expectation  of  a  return  from  those  to  whom  we  do  it.  Paul 
was  still  happier  than  Mordecai,  when  he  found  ungrateful 
returns  for  the  noblest  services,  and  yet  could  say  in  sincerity, 
*  I  am  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  you,  although  the  more 
abundantly  I  love  you,  the  less  I  be  loved.'  If  we  do  not 
perform  our  good  works  to  be  seen  of  men,  we  will  be  content 
with  tlie  honour  that  comes  from  God  only.  The  favour  and 
gratitude  of  men  are  highly  useful,  by  enabling  us  to  be  still 
more  useful  to  them ;  but  then  we  have  the  testimony  of  our 
own  hearts  that  our  works  are  wrought  in  God,  when  the 
course  of  our  goodness  is  not  interrupted  by  bad  returns  from 
its  objects;  Heb.  vi.  9,  10:  Gal.  vi.  12-16. 

Seeking  the  wealth  of  his  people. — Many,  when  they  have  at- 
tained the  utmost  summit  of  their  wishes,  become  unhappy, 
because  they  have  obtained  what  they  sought.  Desire  faileth, 
and  their  hearts  become  like  a  stone  in  them,  because  they 
have  nothing  more  to  desire.  This  is  the  eflfect  of  selfishness 
reigning  in  the  heart.  Give  a  good  man  ten  times  more  wealth 
or  honour  than  he  ever  desired  to  possess,  he  is  not  unhappy 
because  his  wishes  are  completely  gratified,  for  he  will  still 
find  new  desires  operating  in  his  heart.  Although  he  has 
nothing  more  to  wish  for  on  his  own  account,  he  finds  oppor- 
tunities to  do  much  good  to  others,  which  he  did  not  formerly 
enjoy.     His  desirts  are  roused  by  the  means  of  executing  them. 


CHAP.  X.]  BOOK   OF  ESTHER.  329 

Mordecai  was,  doubtless,  richer  than  he  ever  expected  to  be, 
when  he  was  made  the  queen^s  treasurer,  and  the  king's  fa- 
vourite. But  there  was  a  nation  in  which  he  was  deeply  in- 
terested, and  which  he  had  new  opportunities  given  him  to 
serve.  These  opportunities  he  did  not  neglect.  Whilst  he 
faithfully  served  a  prince  to  whom  he  was  highly  indebted,  he 
sought,  and  by  all  wise  and  honest  means  promoted,  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  his  people.  A  rare  talent  was  entrusted  to 
him,  and  he  did  not  hide  it  in  a  napkin.  When  we  have 
nothing  to  do  for  ourselves,  it  will  be  our  wisdom  and  happi- 
ness to  do  much  for  others.  ^The  liberal  man  deviseth  liberal 
things,  and  by  liberal  things  shall  Jie  stand.' 

The  Jews  were  Mordecai's  people.  This  was  one  though 
not  the  chief  reason  why  he  sought  their  wealth.  Patriotism 
is  certainly  a  virtue  recommended  to  us  by  the  best  of  saints. 
The  apostle  Paul  was,  perhaps,  worse  treated  by  his  country- 
men than  ever  any  other  man,  and  yet  he  would  willingly 
have  died  for  them  a  thousand  deaths.  He  'magnified  his 
office  as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  that  if  possible  by  any 
means,  he  might  stir  up  to  emulation  his  brethren  according 
to  the  flesh.' 

Paul  could  not  procure  the  love  of  his  kinsmen,  like  Mor- 
decai ;  although  he  certainly  sought  the  welfare  of  his  people 
with  an  affection  no  less  ardent.  The  reason  of  the  difference 
may  be,  that  Mordecai  sought  their  outward  prosperity,  and 
Paul  their  spiritual  advantage.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that 
Mordecai  was  careless  about  their  spiritual  interests.  That 
expression  which  we  translate  Hhe  wealth,'  might  have  been 
rendered  Hhe  good'  of  his  people.  He  sought  their  happi- 
ness of  every  kind.  But  his  station  gave  him  opportunities 
chiefly  to  promote  their  external  prosperity.  Paul  laboured 
for  their  spiritual  advantage  ;•  and  we  know  what  difference 
men  put  between  services  done  to  their  bodies  and  services 
done  to  their  souls.  If  the  preachers  of  the  gospel,  who  call 
men  to  come  and  share  in  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ, 
should  call  them  to  come  and  receive  thousands  of  gold  and 
silver,  not  one  of  them  would  hear  the  invitation  without  a 
thankful  compliance ;  and  yet  they  will  not  come  unto  Christ, 


330  DISCOUESES  ox   THE  [DISC.  XVI. 

that  they  might  have  life.  Alas!  how  little  regard  is  paid  to 
the  words  of  (he  AVisdom  of  God:  ^Receive  my  instruction, 
and  not  silver;  and  knowledge  rather  than  choice  gold.  For 
wisdom  is  better  than  rubies;  and  all  the  things  that  may  be 
desired  are  not  to  be  compared  to  it;  Pro  v.  viii.  10, 11. 

And  speaking  peace  to  all  his  seed. — The  generous  soul  of 
this  good  man  was  filled  with  kindness  to  the  rising  race,  and 
projected  the  happiness  of  succeeding  generations.  *  He  spake 
peace  to  all  his  seed '  (or  rather,  their  seed).  He  was  courteous 
in  his  deportment  to  the  young,  and  behaved  so  as  to  discover 
a  warm  regard  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  race  that 
should  be  born.  Thus  Peter,  in  the  view  of  laying  aside  his 
earthly  tabernacle,  took  care  that  Christians  should  have  ne- 
cessary truths  in  remembrance,  when  they  could  not  enjoy  the 
opportunity  of  hearing  them  from  his  mouth. 

The  expression  seems  to  imply,  that  Mordecai  procured  the 
peace  of  the  seed  of  Israel  by  the  words  of  his  mouth.  ^  Death 
and  life  are  in  the  power  of  the  tongue.'  Mordecai,  by  his 
credit  with  the  king,  gave  him  a  favourable  opinion  of  the 
Jews,  and  extinguished  all  suspicion  that  might  be  entertained 
by  that  prince  to  the  prejudice  of  a  nation  whose  laws  were 
different  from  the  laws  of  other  people;  and,  by  his  influence 
with  the  Jews,  promoted  that  spirit  of  loyalty  and  good  be- 
haviour on  which  their  welfare  greatly  depended. 

Few  have  it  in  their  power  to  be  such  benefactors  as  Mor- 
decai :  all  have  it  in  their  power  to  do  much  hurt ;  and  who 
has  it  not  in  his  power  to  do  some  good?  We  are  not  re- 
quired to  do  what  we  have  it  not  in  our  power  to  do,  or  what 
is  n^t  competent  to  our  station.  But  all  of  us  are  bound  to 
live  uiuler  the  influence  of  those  tempers  which  were  eminently 
displayed  in  those  great  saints  whose  examples  are  recorded 
in  the  Bible.  Thoy  obtained  their  good  report  through  faith, 
which  animated  them  in  all  their  undertakings.  If  we  live 
by  the  faith  of  Christ,  we  will  be  active  according  to  the  abili- 
ty that  God  gives  us,  and  the  calls  of  his  providence,  in  pro- 
moting his  glory,  and  the  best  interests  of  men. 

Fervent  charity  operated  in  Mordecai;  and  if  our  faith  is 
genuine,  it  will  work  by  love.     Love  is  not  a  dead,  but  a  vig- 


CHAP.  X.]  BOOK   OF    ESTHER.  331 

orous  affection.  If  the  spirit  of  love  and  faith  dwell  in  us, 
we  will  be  trees  of  righteousness,  whose  leaves  will  not  wither, 
and  whose  fruit  will  be  produced  in  its  proper  season;  for 
'  the  fruit  of  the  righteous  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  of  life.^ 

If  we  cannot  reasonably  hope  to  do  much  for  posterity,  w^e 
certainly  may  do  something  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  own 
generation.  If  our  goodness  extend  not  far,  it  may  reach  to 
parents,  servants,  wives,  neighbours.  Our  dutiful  behaviour 
towards  them,  our  example,  our  prayers,  may  greatly  promote 
their  present  comfort,  and  their  eternal  welfare. 

And  why  may  not  the  most  inconsiderable  Christian  hope 
to  be  of  some  use  to  posterity?  Train  up  your  children  in 
the  fear  of  God,  and  they  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  next  age. 
They  will  probably  follow  your  good  example,  and  thus  you 
will  be  useful,  by  their  means,  to  generations  yet  unborn.  If 
you  have  no  children,  you  may  be  useful  to  young  persons 
around  you:  ^A  word  spoken  in  season,  how  good  is  it!^ 


THBEE 


SERMONS 


ON 

PARENTAL   DUTIES. 


r333) 


SERMON  I.]       THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS.  335 


SERMON  I. 


THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN. 
EPHESIANS   VI.  4. 

And,  ye  father Sy  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath:  hut  bring 
them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

It  is  a  common,  and  a  too  just  complaint,  that  religion  is  in 
a  less  prosperous  state  amongst  us  than  it  was  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago.*  What  is  the  cause  of  this  unhappy  change?  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  the  only  author  of  true  holiness.  Why  hath 
God  withdrawn  his  Spirit  from  us?  It  is  certainly  owing  to 
ourselves  that  he  testifies  his  displeasure  by  with-holding,  in 
a  great  measure,  those  gracious  influences  which  were  com- 
municated to  our  fathers.  ^  The  Lord  is  with  you,' said  the 
prophet  Azariah,  the  son  of  Oded,  'while  ye  be  with  Him; 
and  if  ye  seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of  you;  but  if  ye  forsake 
him,  he  will  forsake  you ;  2  Chron.  xv.  2. 

It  is  owing,  say  some,  to  the  difference  between  the  ministers 
of  former  and  present  times,  that  the  means  of  grace  appear 
to  produce  so  little  effect  upon  men.  And  we  do  not  deny 
that  our  hands  are  in  the  trespass.  Our  spirits  are  not  ani- 
mated with  the  same  sacred  fervour  in  the  work  of  the  Lord 
as  those  of  many  of  our  fathers ;  and  the  Spirit  of  God  does 
not  crown  our  labours  with  success  like  theirs.  But  it  will 
not  be  equitable  to  lay  the  whole  blame  upon  us.  'Are  there 
not  with  you,  even  with  you,  sins  against  the  Lord  our  God?' 
and  such  sins  as  provoke  the  Holy  Spirit  to  testify  his  dis- 
pleasure by  with-holding  that  gracious  influence,  without  which 
we  must  continue  in  our  present  melancholy  condition  ?    When 

*  These  Sermons  were  first  published  in  the  year  1804.— Ed. 


336  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON    I. 

ministers  do  not  make  full  proof  of  their  ministry,  can  they 
hope  to  save  themselves  and  those  that  hear  them?  When 
professors  of  religion  do  not  use,  or  use  as  if  they  used  not, 
the  means  of  grace,  can  they  wonder  that  the  Holy  Spirit  does 
not  bless  these  means  to  their  souls?  When  parents  do  not 
follow  the  instructions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  requiring  them  to 
train  up  their  children  in  the  way  wherein  they  should  go, 
have  they  any  reason  to  be  surprised  when  their  children  are 
left  by  God  to  walk  in  the  way  of  their  own  hearts,  and  after 
the  sight  of  their  own  eyes  ?  When  means  by  which  the  Spirit 
uses  to  work — means  prescribed  by  the  Spirit  himself — means 
for  obtaining  the  most  precious  blessings — means  which  he  has 
encouraged  us,  by  great  and  precious  promises,  to  use  with 
diligence, — when  such  means  are  either  not  used  at  all,  or  when 
they  are  used  with  such  carelessness  as  makes  it  apparent  that 
we  pay  little  regard  to  the  authority  of  God,  place  little  con- 
fidence in  his  promises,  and  give  ourselves  little  trouble  whether 
we  enjoy  his  influence  or  not,  the  Spirit  himself  is  despised  and 
grieved,  and  j  ustly  provoked  to  leave  us  to  ourselves,  that  we 
may  know,  by  sad  experience,  how  little  we  can  do,  either  for 
ourselves,  or  for  those  that  are  dear  to  us. 

It  cannot  be  reasonably  expected  that  great  benefit  can  be 
derived  from  sermons  by  men  who  understand  little  of  what 
is  said  to  them.  And  much  cannot  be  understood  by  persons 
uninstructed  in  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
which  ought  to  be  taught  by  parents  to  their  children  in  the 
years  of  childhood.  It  is  only  once  or  twice  in  the  course  of 
a  year,  that  we  who  are  ministers  of  the  gospel  can  give  private 
instructions  to  your  children ;  and  therefore  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  prepare  their  minds  for  our  public  instructions.  This 
is  the  work  chiefly  of  parents,  who  are  commanded  to  ^  bring 
up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.' 
If  you  neglect  this  part  of  your  duty,  we  justly  impute  to  you 
a  great  part  of  the  blame  of  the  unsuccessfulness  of  our  min- 
istry. When  men  hear  the  word,  and  understand  it  not,  the 
devil  commonly  finds  it  easy  to  steal  away  from  them  that 
little  of  which  they  may  form  some  apprehension.  But  how 
can  they  understand  sermons,  if  they  have  not  been  taught 


SERMON   I.]  TO   THEIK   CHILDREN.  337 

their  catechisms?  Do  you  expect  that  the  teachers  of  your 
schools  can  make  your  children  to  read  words,  and  sentences, 
and  discourses,  before  they  have  been  taught  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet?  As  little  can  it  be  expected  that  sermons  should 
be  understood  by  those  who  have  not  learned  the  first  lessons 
of  religion. 

That  other  sermons  may  be  better  understood,  I  shall  en- 
deavour in  this  discourse  to  persuade  you,  if  possible,  to  train 
up  your  children  in  the  way  wherein  they  should  go:  and  for 
this  purpose  I  shall  endeavour  to  explain  and  enforce, 

I.  The  caution  given  to  parents  against  provoking  their 
children  to  wrath. 

II.  The  direction  given  them  to  bring  up  their  children  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.     After  which,  I  shall, 

III.  Consider  why  the  caution  against  provoking  your  chil- 
dren to  wrath  is  joined  to  the  command  to  bring  up  children 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

I. — I  shall  endeavour  to  explain  and  enforce  the  caution  against 
provoking  your  children  to  wrath. 

Perhaps  you  will  say,  that  you  love  your  children,  and 
therefore  scarcely  need  to  have  this  caution  explained  to  you. 
You  would  be  sorry  to  see  your  children  causelessly  provoked 
to  wrath  by  any  person  whatever,  and  therefore  you  think  you 
are  not  likely  to  provoke  them  by  any  part  of  your  own  con- 
duct. 

I  doubt  not  but  you  love  your  children ;  but  you  may, 
nevertheless,  need  a  warning  against  harsh  behaviour  towards 
them.  Is  it  not  too  well  known,  that  wives  and  husbands 
will  sometimes  make  one  another  very  uneasy  by  harsh  be- 
haviour or  by  provoking  language;  and  yet  if  a  third  person 
interpose  to  terminate  the  difference,  they  will  both  turn  against 
him,  in  defence  of  either  of  the  parties?  This  is  a  plain  evi- 
dence that  love  does  not  always  ensure  good  behaviour  to  the 
object  of  it.  They  love  one  another  too  well  to  endure  any 
harsh  word  from  a  third  person  to  either  of  them ;  and  yet 
their  love  does  not  hinder  them  from  plaguing  one  another 
22 


338  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  I. 

with  rude  behaviour.  Discretion  is  necessary,  as  well  as  love, 
to  preserve  you  from  making  your  wives  or  your  children  un- 
happy by  your  conduct. 

Sutfer  me,  then,  to  speak  a  few  works  to  you  concerning 
that  behaviour  which  your  children  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  you.  We  have  heard  of  books  about  the  rights  of  men, 
and  the  rights  of  women.  The  rights  of  children,  too,  deserve 
^ur  consideration.  They  are  human  creatures,  made  after  the 
image  of  God.  ^  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God.'  They  are 
not  able  to  plead  their  rights  against  tyrannical  parents.  Suf- 
fer me  to  plead  on  their  behalf.  I  do  not  say  that  any  of  you 
are  tyrants  in  your  families.  But  all  of  you  have  much  power 
over  your  children;  and  such  is  the  present  state  of  human 
nature,  that  there  are  few  who  do  not,  on  some  occasion  or 
other,  make  a  wrong  use  of  their  power.  David  himself,  on 
some  occasions,  made  a  rash  and  unwarrantable  use  of  that  re- 
gal power  which  God  gave  him  over  Israel.  Can  you  say  that 
you  are  chargeable  with  fewer  errors  in  the  use  of  your  paren- 
tal power?  If  you  are,  you  may,  however,  need  to  be  warned 
against  abuses  of  authority  to  which  you  may  be  prompted  by 
temptations  not  yet  experienced. 

1.  Ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath,  by  austetity 
or  rudeness  in  your  behaviour  to  your  children. 

Some  seem  to  think,  that,  in  all  places  except  their  own 
houses,  they  are  bound  to  behave  with  gentleness  and  good 
manners.  I  am  fully  persuaded  not  only  that  they  err  in 
making  this  exception,  but  that  this  mistake  is  the  source  of 
a  great  part  of  the  misery  of  human  life,  and  of  a  great  part 
of  those  iniquities  whereby  men  are  offended,  and  whereby 
God  is  dishonoured. 

'Whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  without  cause,  shall 
be  in  danger  of  the  judgment;  and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his 
brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  council;  but  whoso- 
ever shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell-fire.'  Will 
you  say  that  you  are  not,  in  the  sight  of  God,  the  brethren, 
\n\i  tlie  fathers  of  your  children?  But,  although  you  are  their 
tathers,  you  are  the  children  of  the  same  God,  who  made  both 
you  and  them.     You  are  redeemed  by  the  same  precious  blood. 


SERMON   I.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  330 

And  because  you  are  their  fathers,  to  transgress  any  of  the 
laws  of  love,  in  your  behaviour  to  them,  is  a  greater  iniquity 
than  a  like  transgression  in  your  behaviour  to  other  persons. 
The  more  nearly  we  are  related  to  any  of  the  human  race,  the 
greater  are  our  obligations  to  perform  to  them  all  the  numer- 
ous duties  comprehended  in  the  royal  law  of  love ;  and  the 
greater  is  the  guilt  which  we  contract,  by  doing  any  of  those 
things  which  are  forbidden  in  this  law. 

Some  parents  will  not  scruple  to  call  their  children  idiots, 
brutes,  blockheads,  asses.  Is  not  this  as  bad  as  to  say  unto 
them,  Raca,  or.  Thou  rebel?  (for  so  it  is  probable  the  word 
rendered,  Thou  fool,  signifies.)  Would  you  take  it  well  if  any 
other  person  should  call  them  by  such  names?  But  why 
should  you  take  those  freedoms  which  you  will  not  allow 
to  other  people?  You  are  their  fathers,  you  say,  and  have 
rights  over  them,  w^hich  none  else  have.  This  is  true.  But 
what  are  these  rights?  Have  you  a  right  to  treat  them  with 
indignity  and  outrage,  because  you  are  connected  with  them 
by  a  relation  which  binds  you  to  love  them  with  a  tender  af- 
fection? Because  you  are  obliged  to  do  them  much  good,  have 
you  a  right  to  do  them  hurt?  Parents  have  surely  as  little 
right,  and  less  if  possible,  to  be  injurious  to  their  own  chil- 
dren, than  any  other  persons  living. 

But  they  have  provoked  you  by  bad  behaviour?  Well;  ad- 
monish and  chastise  them,  and  teach  them  to  behave  better. 
But  if  you  treat  them  with  rudeness,  you  teach  them  to  behave 
worse.  If  you  call  them  bad  names,  you  teach  them  to  give 
the  same,  or  as  bad  names,  to  any  persons  that  happen  to  dis- 
please them.  Will  you  chastise  them  for  calling  their  brothers 
or  sisters,  or  any  other  persons,  brutes  or  blockheads?  You 
are  blamable  to  a  high  degree  if  you  do  not.  You  are  blama- 
ble  to  as  high  a  degree,  if  you  punish  them  for  imitating  your 
own  conduct,  unless  you,  at  the  same  time,  make  them  sensible 
that  you  abhor  yourselves  for  having  taught  them  such  lessons. 

What  do  you  think  of  Saul's  behaviour  to  his  son  Jonathan, 
when  he  said  to  him  in  his  wrath,  'Thou  son  of  the  perverse 
rebellious  woman ^  (^Thou  son  oi'  harlots,'  as  the  most  ancient 
translators  understand  it),  'Do  not  I   know  that  thou  hast 


340  THE   DUTY   OF  PARENTS  [SERMON   I. 

chosen  the  son  of  Jesse  to  thine  own  confusion,  and  to  the  con- 
fusion of  thy  mother's  nakedness?'  How  different  from  such 
lano-uage  was  that  of  Abraham  to  his  son  Isaac;  of  Isaac  to 
his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob;  of  David  to  his  son  Solomon!  Gen. 
xxii.  7,  8;  xxvii.  xxviii.  1  Chron.  xxii.  But  we  scarcely 
need  such  examples  to  teach  us  that  gentleness  of  behaviour 
which  parents  owe  to  their  children.  JN'ature  itself  taught  the 
heathens,  who  knew  not  God,  that  a  man  who  is  surly  in  his 
behaviour  to  his  children  deserves  not  the  honourable  name  of 
a  father.^ 

Parents,  even  when  they  justly  correct  their  children,  ought 
by  no  means  to  treat  them  with  proud  disdain,  or  to  load  them 
with  opprobrious  epithets.  What  would  be  thought  of  a  judge 
who  should  load  a  criminal  with  insult  at  the  time  he  is  pro- 
nouncing sentence  upon  him  ?  Fierce  passions  are  never  worse 
timed  than  when  a  judge  gives  sentence  on  a  pannel,  or  a  father 
corrects  his  child.  Correction  of  children,  and  the  punish- 
ment of  criminals,  are  divine  institutions,  which  ought  to  be 
administered  with  all  gravity,  and  with  perfect  calmness  of 
temper. 

Correction,  as  well  as  punishment,  ought  to  be  proportioned 
to  the  fault,  or  the  crime.  And  whatever  the  fault  or  the 
crime  is,  it  must  be  remembered,  that  the  offender  hath  the 
honour  to  be  a  human  creature,  and  must  not  be  treated  as  a 
brute.  Do  you  not  remember  the  law  of  Moses  concerning 
stripes?  Whatever  the  offence  was,  the  offender  was  not  to 
receive  more  than  forty ;  '  lest,'  says  the  divine  Lawgiver,  ^  thy 
brother  should  appear  vile  unto  thee.'  He  is  still  thy  brother, 
wliatever  he  has  done.  Thou  must  still  respect  him  as  a 
brother,  and  beware  of  loading  him  with  ignominy,  when  ne- 
cessity requires  that  he  should  be  punished.  This  humane 
law  was  so  strictly  observed  by  the  Jews,  even  in  their  ^vorst 
degeneracy,  that  though  they  accounted  Paul  the  most  execra- 
ble of  men,  and  often  punished  him  with  stripes,  they  never 
inflicted  upon  him  the  full  number  of  forty.     Shall  the  spirit 


*This  is  a  part  of  the  character  which  Homer  gives  to  one  of  his  most 
di.stiDij'ui.shcd  heroes:— 'He  was  mild  as  a  father.' 


SEKMON   I.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  341 

of  this  law  be  less  regarded  by  Christian  parents,  than  the 
letter  of  it  by  Jewish  persecutors? 

2.  Parents  must  not  provoke  their  children  to  wrath  by  injus- 
tice,  or  unkindnesSy  in  with-holding  from  them  what  they  have  good 
reason  to  expect  from  the  affection  of  a  father. 

Those  men  who  are  the  instruments  of  being  to  their  fellow- 
creatures,  are  bound  to  protect  and  cherish  their  tender  years, 
and  to  provide  whatever  is  necessary  for  them,  till  they  are  in 
a  condition  to  provide  for  themselves.  If  children  find  them- 
selves left  destitute  of  needful  provision  and  support,  by  the 
idleness,  the  prodigality,  or  avarice  of  their  parents,  they  must 
be  tempted  to  complain  and  fret  at  such  barbarous  usage,  when 
they  come  to  those  years  at  which  they  can  form  a  judgment 
of  the  cause  of  their  distress ;  and  these  years  sooner  arrive  than 
some  parents  suppose.  *If  a  man  provide  not  for  those  of  his 
own  house,  he  is  worse  than  the  infidels.^  He  has  less  under- 
standing than  tlie  beasts  of  the  field,  or  than  the  fowls  of 
heaven — except  the  ostrich. 

Children  have  a  right  to  expect  from  their  parents  food  and 
clothing  suited  to  their  circumstances,  together  with  such  other 
comforts  and  conveniences  as  are  generally  enjoyed  by  the 
children  of  parents  of  equal  rank  ;  and,  therefore,  parents 
tempt  their  children  to  be  angry  with  them,  when  they  are 
compelled,  by  excessive  frugality  on  the  part  of  their  fathers, 
to  blush  and  hide  their  heads  at  their  own  mean  appearance 
in  the  presence  of  young  persons  whose  parents  are  not  richer 
than  their  own,  nor  disposed  to  throw  away  their  money  on 
superfluities. 

I  am  speaking  to  parents  only,  and  not  to  children ;  nor  to 
other  people,  who  have  no  right  to  judge  of  the  behaviour  of 
parents  to  their  children,  and  who,  if  they  judge  at  all,  must 
judge  without  proper  evidence.  I  said,  that  parents  ought  to 
make  such  allowances  of  necessaries  or  conveniences  to  their 
children  as  their  income  will  permit;  not  such  as  their  station, 
in  common  estimation,  may  seem  to  require.  To  proportion 
men's  expenses  to  their  station,  rather  than  their  income,  is 
one  of  the  greatest  follies  in  the  world.  It  is  the  cause  of  con- 
tinual misery  to  many  of  mankind,  and  leads  to  much  wicked- 


342  THE   DUTY   OF   PAKENTS  [SERMON  I. 

ness.  Now,  parents  are  the  only  good  judges  of  their  own  circum- 
stances; which  are  but  very  imperfectly  known  to  their  neigh- 
, hours,  and  perhaps  still  more  imperfectly  to  their  own  children. 
You  are  not,  therefore,  young  persons !  to  give  ear  to  those 
impertinent  meddlers  in  other  people's  affairs,  who  tell  you 
that  your  parents  are  not  generous  in  their  behaviour  to  you. 
1  have  given  to  your  parents  my  advice  to  treat  you  with  that 
ju^^tico  and  gene^-osity,  which  may  be  expected  from  their  af- 
iection  to  the  fruit  of  their  own  bodies.  But  both  you  and  I 
mast  leave  the  application  of  ihis  instruction  to  their  own  pru- 
dence. We  have  no  right,  nor  have  we  that  knowledge  of 
their  situation,  which  might  enable  us  to  mention  i)articulars. 
It  is  very  possible  that  some  of  your  parents  may  carry  their 
frugality  too  far  in  the  allowance  they  make  you  ;  but  you  have 
no  right  to  think  that  they  do  so,  or  to  believe  those  who  tell 
you  so,  unless  better  proof  could  be  given  of  it  than  can  be 
commonly  had. 

Altliougli  parents  may  be  in  circumstances  which  render  it 
dilHcult  for  them,  they  ought  not  to  with-hold  from  their  chil- 
dren, grown  up  to  proper  age,  the  necessary  means  of  enabling 
them  to  provide  for  themselves,  by  acquiring  skill  in  some 
})rofession  suited  to  their  genius  and  their  inclination.  If  in- 
dustry is  required  from  all  men,  it  must  be  incumbent  on  pa- 
rents to  do  what  lies  in  their  power  to  qualify  their  children 
for  some  kind  of  industry  that  may  be  useful  to  themselves, 
and  to  the  public.  Amongst  one  of  the  wisest  nations  of  an- 
liijuity,  it  was  a  law,  that  tlie  man  who  did  not  cause  his  chil- 
i\n'n  to  bo  taught  some  useful  profession,  should  have  no  claim 
upon  them  for  support,  when  himself  became  infirm  through 
sickness  or  old  age.  I  do  not  commend  this  law.  It  would 
not  became  Christians  to  act  according  to  its  spirit  towards 
their  parents.  What  I  infer  from  it  is,  that  parents,  in  the 
estiiuaiiou  of  the  wise,  act  unjustly  to  their  children,  and  tempt 
them  to  give  place  to  resentment  against  the  instruments  of 
their  own  being,  when  they  grudge  the  expense  and  trouble 
necessary  to  prepare  their  children  for  making  that  figure  in 
the  world  whicli  might  be  expected  from  the  station  and  cir- 
cumstances of  their  parents. 


SERMON    I.]  TO   TIIEIU   OIIILDREX.  343 

3.  Partiality  in  behaviour  to  children  is  certainly  unjustifiable 
in  pa7'ents. 

But  let  me  not  be  mistaken.  I  do  not  say  that  parents 
ought  either  to  love  all  their  children  equally,  or  to  aiFect  the 
appearance  of  an  equal  love  to  them  all.  Who  will  say  that 
Jacob  sinned  in  loving  Joseph  more  than  his  brethren,  when 
Joseph  so  well  deserved  to  be  loved  above  them  all?  And 
yet  it  will  not  be  easy  to  free  him  from  the  charge  of  indiscre- 
tion, in  distinguishing  him  so  remarkably  by  singular  testi- 
monies of  his  love,  when  he  might  have  been  so  justly  appre- 
hensive of  some  bad  effects  from  it,  considering  what  he  knew 
of  the  haughty  and  passionate  temper  of  some  of  his  other  sons; 
Gen.  xxxvii. 

Parents  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  distinguishing,  by  the 
tenderness  of  their  love,  such  of  their  children  as  need,  above 
others,  parental  pity  to  soothe  them  under  infirmities  or  mis- 
fortunes. God  is  pleased  to  illustrate  the  tenderness  of  his 
mercy  to  his  people,  by  the  pity  of  a  father  or  a  mother  to 
their  distressed  offspring;  Psalm  ciii.  13;  Isaiah  Ix^vi.  13. 

Parents  are  not  unjust  in  giving  peculiar  marks  of  their  af- 
fection to  those  children  who  have  merited  it  by  their  piety, 
their  prudence,  the  sweetness  of  their  tempers,  their  industry  in 
acquiring  useful  accomplishments,  their  virtuous  actions,  their 
attachment  to  their  parents,  their  kindness  to  their  brothers 
and  sisters,  their  discreet  and  kind  behaviour  to  friends  or 
strangers.  ^A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad  father;'  why  may  he 
not  express  his  gladness?  Can  any  child  of  the  family,  who 
has  not  merited  such  regard,  take  it  amiss  that  he  should? 
Such  a  child  must  not  only  be  destitute  of  wisdom,  but  blind 
to  its  beauties;  and  there  is  no  hope,  without  a  miracle  of 
grace,  that  a  regard  either  to  God  or  man  will  ever  make  him 
wiser  than  he  is. 

But  parents  provoke  their  children  to  wrath,  when  they  hate 
some,  and  love  others  of  them,  though  their  children  have 
given  them  no  reason  to  make  this  invidious  distinction;  or, 
when  they  make  a  difference  between  them,  far  exceeding  the 
causes  that  have  been  given.  Distinctions  founded  in  reason 
and  religion  may  be  attended  with  good  effects.     They  are 


344  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON   I. 

just  encouragements  to  virtue,  piety,  and  dutiful  behaviour 
on  the  one  side;  on  the  other  side,  they  are  discouragements 
to  sin  and  folly.  But  distinctions  that  are  arbitrary  and  ca- 
pricious can  do  no  good,  and  will  probably  do  much  evil. 
Your  favourite  child,  we  hope,  will  not,  like  Joseph,  be  cast 
into  a  deep  pit,  or  sold  into  Egypt  by  his  brethren;  but,  what 
is  worse  for  him,  he  may  be  swelled  with  vanity  and  arrogance ; 
he  may  learn  to  despise  his  brethren,  and  even  to  treat  with 
insolence  the  father  that  cannot  prevail  upon  himself  to  find 
fault  with  any  thing  that  he  does.  You  may,  besides,  draw 
u])on  him  the  envy  of  his  brethren,  which  will  more  than 
counterbalance  all  the  fruits  of  your  partial  favour.  Had  not 
the  Lord  been  on  Joseph's  side,  and  turned  all  his  calamities 
into  blessings,  the  envy  of  his  brethren,  although  they  had 
neither  killed  nor  sold  him,  would  have  done  him  more  hurt, 
and  given  him  more  pain,  than  his  father's  partiality  could 
have  given  him  pleasure. 

There  is  the  more  need  of  warning  parents  against  ground- 
less partialities  to  their  children,  that  we  find  the  best  men  too 
much  dispose:!  to  indulge  them,  and  the  wisest  men  too  little 
sensible  of  the  mischiefs  that  may  be  produced  by  them.  Who 
would  have  thought  that  Isaac  would  love  Esau  better  than 
Jacob,  when  a  divine  oracle  had  declared  that  the  elder  should 
serve  the  younger?  especially  after  the  plain  proofs  which 
Jacob,  no  doubt,  gave  of  his  piety,  whilst  he  was  yet  in  his 
father's  house.  And  little  did  Isaac  think,  whilst  he  was  in- 
dulging his  ill-judged  partiality,  that  he  was  tempting  his 
beloved  Rebekah  to  impose  a  cheat  upon  himself,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  best  of  his  sons;  or  that  he  was  sowing  the  seeds 
ol'  a  l)l()ody  dissension  amongst  his  children,  and  his  children's 
children  to  many  generations.  That  behaviour  of  Jacob,  which 
gave  rise  to  an  'anger  that  did  tear  perpetually,  and  to  wrath 
which  was  kept  for  ever,'  took  its  rise  in  part  from  Isaac's  un- 
just design  to  give  the  blessing  to  his  eldest  son;  who  had 
already  forfeited  the  birth-right  by  his  profane  conduct,  and 
who  was  never  entitled  to  the  blessing. 

Partiality  in  distributing  the  possessions  or  goods  of  the 
father  amongst  his  children,  is  inconsistent  with  justice.     We 


SERMON   I.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  345 

do  not  deny  that  parents  may  justly  give  much  more  to  one 
child  of  the  family  than  to  another;  nor  are  they  bound  to 
account  to  strangers  for  the  preference.  But  a  great  inequality, 
without  any  other  reason  but  the  will  of  the  father,  cannot  be 
justified.  Why  should  all  his  children  but  one  be  left  beggars, 
for  the  sake  of  a  favourite?  Are  they  not  all  equally  related 
to  him?  Have  they  not  all  their  virtues  and  their  faults?  If 
some  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their  virtues,  or  by 
their  faults,  it  will  not  be  u»RJust  to  make  them  sensible  of 
their  father's  sense  of  their  conduct.  Jacob  was  not  to  be 
blamed,  but  commended,  for  leaving  the  double  portion  to 
Joseph.  He  was,  indeed,  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  giv- 
ing this  instance  of  regard  to  that  son  who  was  Uhe  shepherd 
and  the  stone  of  IsraeP;  and  in  the  dissatisfaction  he  expressed 
with  the  conduct  of  his  three  oldest  sons;  in  the  farewell  bless- 
ings given  to  his  fomily.  But  many  parents,  by  their  last 
will,  appear  to  be  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  the  world,  which 
prompts  them  to  rob  all  their  younger  children,  to  enable  the 
eldest  to  keep  up  the  honour  of  the  family. 

Why  should  daughters  have  merely  a  trifle  left  them  when 
perhaps  all  the  sons  have  a  rich  provision,  though  daugh- 
ters have  not  the  same  means  in  their  power  which  the  sons 
have,  to  improve  their  condition?  Daughters  are  often  found 
to  love  their  father  better  than  his  sons,  and  are  less  likely  to 
squander  away  the  fruits  of  his  goodness.  When  partiality  in 
their  father  deprives  them  of  what  they  had  reason  to  expect, 
are  they  not  tempted  to  indulge  those  sentiments  which  are 
the  common  effects  of  unrequited  affection? 

The  offspring  of  first  marriages  have  sometimes  been  de- 
prived of  their  rights,  to  gratify  a  second  wife.  But  why 
should  the  dead  be  injured  for  the  sake  of  the  living?  Your 
deceased  friends  may  be  still  wronged  or  favoured  in  the  per- 
sons of  their  living  representatives.  If  you  loved  your  wife 
while  she  lived,  she  has  done  nothing  since  she  was  taken  from 
you  to  merit  what  is  no  less  unjustifiable  than  an  alienation  of 
your  regard.  But,  if  you  did  not  love  her  so  well  as  you  do 
the  present,  her  children  are  still  entitled  to  justice  from  their 
father.     The  law  of  Moses  absolutely  prohibited  the  Jews  from 


34G  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON   I. 

making  the  son  of  a  beloved  wife  the  heir  of  the  double  por- 
tion, instead  of  the  son  of  a  wife  that  was  hated.  I  do  not  say 
that  this  law  binds  us  in  the  letter  of  it ;  but  it  certainly  teaches 
us,  that  it  is  injustice  in  parents  to  prefer  some  of  their  chil- 
dren to  others  equally  deserving  of  regard,  from  a  partial 
attachment  to  their  mother. 

4.  Children  must  not  be  provoked  to  wrath  by  violence  done  to 
their  consciences. 

Conscience  must  be  regulated  by  knowledge  and  judgment. 
Till  knowledge  is  gained  by  enlightening  the  consciences  of 
young  persons,  parents  certainly  have  a  right  to  direct  their 
religious  behaviour;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  parents  to  afford 
them  all  the  means  in  their  power  to  enable  them  to  form  a 
judgment  for  themselves,  and  to  endeavour  to  convince  them 
of  the  truth  and  importance  of  those  doctines  which  appear  to 
themselves  to  be  founded  in  the  Bible.  But  they  must  by  no 
means  claim  any  powers  which  can  belong  to  none  but  the 
Lord  of  conscience,  the  Lawgiver,  '  who  is  able  to  save  and  to 
destroy.' 

Amongst  the  different  forms  of  religious  profession,  (which 
are  too  numerous  amongst  us,)  you  no  doubt  believe  your  own 
to  be  the  best.  I  believe  so  too.  We  would  deserve  damna- 
tion for  our  hypocrisy,  if  we  solemnly  professed  a  belief  of  any 
religious  principles  which  did  not  appear  to  us  to  be  agreea- 
ble to  the  mind  of  God.  And  therefore  it  must  be  very  de- 
sirable to  us,  that  our  children  should  make  the  same  profes- 
sion, if  they  can  view  the  truths  of  religion  in  the  same  light 
with  ourselves.  If  they  cannot  be  convinced  by  our  argu- 
ments, or  their  own  inquiries,  that  we  are  in  the  right,  we 
must  not  be  displeased  with  them  because  they  dissent  from 
us.  The  riglits  of  conscience  are  sacred.  We  step  into  the 
throne  of  God,  and  claim  honours  equal  to  his,  if  we  require 
even  our  own  children  to  make  a  profession  of  religion  which 
pleases  ourselves,  rather  than  a  profession  which  appears  to 
them  to  please  God. 

What  advantage  can  we  propose  by  urging  them  to  associate 
in  church-fellowship  with  that  body  of  Christians  with  which 
we  are  connected,  unless  we  can  convince  them  that  our  par- 


SERMON   I.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  347 

ticular  form  of  profession  is  warranted  by  Scripture?  We  mav 
make  them  hypocrites,  but  cannot  make  them  believers;  and 
it  is  of  little  importance  what  profession  they  make,  or  whether 
they  make  any  at  all,  if  they  are,  in  their  profession,  dissem- 
blers with  God.  I  should  rather  have  said,  that  it  were  better 
for  them  intirely  to  lay  aside  all  profession  of  religion,  than 
to  profess  before  God  what  they  do  not  believe  with  their 
hearts.  Wretched  and  wicked  are  the  men  who  make  no  pre- 
tensions to  any  religion ;  but  not  so  wretched  and  wicked  as 
those  men  who  wilfully  ^compass  God  about  with  lies  and  de- 
ceits,' as  all  those  men  do  who  profess,  before  God,  any  thing 
which  they  do  not  believe. 

I  am  far  from  meaning,  by  any  thing  I  have  said,  that  it  is 
not  a  matter  of  importance  in  religion,  to  be  steadfast  in  that 
form  of  profession  which  we  think  it  our  duty,  upon  proper 
examination,  to  make.  We  must  first  ^ prove  all  things,  and 
then  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.'  But  that  which  is  our 
duty,  is  the  duty  of  our  children  also.  They  ought  first  to 
prove,  and  then  to  hold  fast.  To  hold  fast,  without  having 
proved,  is  behaving  neither  like  Christians,  nor  like  honest 
men.  I  greatly  dislike  the  religion  of  Popery,  and  yet  I  think 
it  far  better  to  be  a  conscientious  Papist,  than  to  want  honesty; 
and,  amongst  all  our  transactions,  honesty  is  most  requisite  in 
our  dealings  with  God.  He  is  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  and  will 
not  be  mocked. 

There  is,  indeed,  one  piece  of  deference  in  religion  due  to 
parents,  and  they  have  good  reason  to  be  displeased  with  their 
children  if  it  is  not  paid  to  them.  Children  certainly  ought 
to  associate  in  the  public  exercises  of  religion  with  their  parents, 
till  they  can  choose  for  themselves  what  appears  to  be  good. 
They  ought  not  to  desert  that  profession  in  which  they  have 
been  trained  up  because  it  is  less  fashionable  than  others;  or 
because  it  may  oblige  them  to  a  stricter  course  of  religion;  or 
from  any  other  motives  but  a  persuasion,  upon  due  examina- 
tion, that  some  other  form  of  Christian  profession  is  more 
agreeable  to  the  mind  of  God.  To  alter  a  religious  profession  in 
which  young  persons  have  been  educated,  on  any  other  ground, 
is  not  only  extremely  disrespectful  to  their  parents,  but  ex- 


348  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  I. 

ceeilingly  offensive  to  God,  and  cannot  be  reconciled  with  that 
godly  sincerity  which  is  essential  to  the  Christian  character. 

Parents  have  undoubtedly  a  right  to  deal  with  their  chil- 
dren on  this  subject,  and  to  learn  what  are  their  reasons  for 
joinintT-  iu  a  religious  communion  different  from  their  own. 
But  they  ought  to  make  the  same  allowance  for  their  children 
that  they  require  for  themselves.  If  their  children  appear  to 
act  from  bad  motives,  or  without  motives,  they  should  admon- 
ish them  of  the  infinite  importance  of  dealing  sincerely,  and 
in  the  exercise  of  their  best  judgment,  with  God,  ^who  will 
bring  every  work  into  judgment.'  But  if  their  children  appear 
to  act  sincerely,  according  to  the  best  judgment  which  they 
can  form,  their  parents  have  no  right  to  deprive  them  of  the 
privileges  of  children,  for  differing  in  sentiment  from  them- 
selves. 

'  He  that  doubteth  is  damned  if  he  eat ;  and  whatsoever  is 
not  of  faith  is  sin.'  This  maxim  is  of  very  comprehensive 
import,  and  is  no  less  applicable  to  our  forms  of  religious  pro- 
fession, than  to  the  disputes  which  took  place  in  the  church 
of  the  Romans,  when  Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to  them.  Most 
certainly,  any  part  of  our  religious  profession  which  is  not  of 
faith  is  sin ;  and  it  cannot  be  of  faith,  unless  it  is  founded  upon 
the  word  of  God,  which  we  all  acknowledge  to  be  the  rule,  and 
the  only  rule,  of  religion.  We  cannot  believe,  if  the  Scripture 
is  the  rule  of  faith,  that  any  point  of  doctrine  or  practice  is  an 
article  of  religion  to  be  professed  and  held  fast  by  us,  unless  we 
can  find  it  in  Scripture.  That  persuasion  which  depends  upon 
the  authority  of  persons,  cannot  be  any  part  of  that  religion 
which  is  regulated  purely  by  the  word  of  God.  Our  fathers 
may  communicate  to  us  what  they  please  of  their  goods,  and 
may  give  us  good  instructions ;  but  they  can  give  us  no  part 
of  their  faith.  They  may,  indeed,  persuade  us  to  believe  many 
things  upon  their  authority,  and  these  things  may  be  true  and 
good;  but  they  arc  no  points  of  faith  to  us,  till  we  know  and 
believe  them  u})on  a  higher  authority. 

On  the  whole,  it  Is  the  duty  of  parents  to  remember  that 
they  once  were  children  themselves,  and  to  govern  their  sons 


SERMON   I.]  TO  THEIR   CHILDREN.  349 

and  daughters  with  that  mildness,  and  attention  to  their  happi- 
ness, with  which  they  wished  to  be  themselves  treated  in  their 
early  years.  Childhood  and  youth,  under  the  direction  of 
good  parents,  are  a  happy  period  of  life;  perhaps  the  only 
happy  period  which  is  ever  to  be  enjoyed.  Why  should  young 
persons  be  deprived  of  a  happy  day,  or  even  a  happy  hour, 
but  for  their  greater  happiness?  All  our  connections  with  one 
another  are  intended,  by  a  gracious  Providence,  to  make  us 
happy;  and  they  are  perverted  and  abused,  when  they  are  not 
improved  for  this  purpose.  It  must  not,  however,  be  for- 
gotten, that  our  happiness  in  youth  or  age  depends  not  on  un- 
strained liberty.  If  parents  wish  to  see  their  children  happy, 
let  them  ^beware  of  provoking  them  needlessly  to  wrath,  lest 
they  be  discouraged.' 


350  THE  DUTY  OF  PAKENTS  [SERMON  II. 


SERMON  II. 


THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN, 
EPHESIANS    VI.  4. 

And,  ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath;  hut  bring 
them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

II. — Let  parents  be  careful,  especially,  to  ^  bring  up  their 
children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord/  By  Hhe 
Lord '  we  are  to  understand  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour, 
and  tlie  Author  of  our  religion.  ^The  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord'  is  that  course  of  discipline  and  instruction,  which 
l;ecomos  believers  in  Christ;  which  is  appointed  by  Christ; 
which  is  well-pleasing  to  Him;  which  fits  young  persons  to  be 
followers  of  tlie  Lord;  which  he  is  ordinarily  pleased  to  bless, 
as  the  means  of  faith  in  Himself,  and  of  obedience  to  his  law;^. 
More  particularly:  — 

1 .  Educate  your  children  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  of 
their  duty. 

It  is  a  great  benefit  to  us  who  live  in  Scotland,  that  we  were 
required,  in  our  younger  days,  to  commit  that  most  excellent 
of  human  compositions,  the  Shorter  Catechism,  so  exactly  to 
rnrniory,  that  we  can  scarcely  forget  the  words  of  it,  as  long 
as  our  memories  are  able  to  retain  any  thing.  Be  not  less 
careful  of  the  grandchildren  of  your  fathers,  than  they  were 
of  you.  See  that  they  learn,  and  that  they  remember  the  in- 
>tructions  of  that  hook,  which  contains  almost  every  doctrine 
and  duty  of  our  religion  within  such  a  short  compass,  that  it 
can  i)e  InKight  for  one  of  the  smallest  of  our  coins,  may  be  read 
ill  iialf  an  hour,  and  may  be  easily  learned  by  heart  in  the 


SERMON  II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN,  351 

space  of  one  hundred  and  seven  days,  although  a  few  minutes 
only  of  each  day  be  employed  for  the  purpose. 

But  the  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth  are  the  grounds 
of  our  belief  of  every  religious  truth;  and  there  is  an  energy 
in  them  which  exceeds  all  human  compositions,  as  much  as 
the  sound  of  thunder  exceeds  a  whisper.  Let  your  children, 
therefore,  by  all  means,  learn  the  proofs  annexed  in  some  of 
your  little  catechisms  to  the  various  questions.  I  will  not  take  it 
upon  me  to  commend  any  parts  of  scripture,  as  if  they  excelled 
all  other  parts  of  it;  but  the  proofs  from  scripture  adduced  in 
your  small  catechisms  to  establish  the  various  articles  of  re- 
ligion are  not,  certainly,  inferior  in  value  and  usefulness  to  any 
other  passages  of  the  Bible,  and  deserve  to  be  imprinted  on  our 
memories,  for  the  sake  of  those  doctrines  which  they  establish. 

There  are  other  small  catechisms  well  known  to  you,  which 
may  be  of  great  use  to  parents,  as  well  as  children,  because 
they  will  enable  them,  with  advantage  and  ease,  to  explain 
the  important  truths  of  our  Shorter  Catechism.  I  wish  that 
they  were  more  used  than  they  are,  by  persons  of  mature  age; 
for  there  are  questions  in  them  which  many  young,  or  even 
middle-aged  persons,  cannot  answer.  I  would  not,  however, 
rigorously  insist  on  young  persons  learning  them  so  exactly 
as  the  Shorter  Catechism.  If  they  learn  thera  so  well  as  to 
understand  the  Shorter  Catechism  by  means  of  them,  the  chief 
design  of  them  is  gained. 

Let  parents  encourage,  or  even  request,  public  teachers  to 
teach  their  children  the  Catechism.  But  this  is  not  all  that 
is  necessary  for  them.  Let  parents  tkemselves  hear  their  chil- 
dren repeat  the  questions  and  answers,  and  endeavour  to  make 
them  understand  what  they  repeat,  as  far  as  they  can  be  sup- 
posed capable  of  understanding  it;  for  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  they  should  be  able  to  understand  even  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism in  every  part,  and  in  its  utmost  extent  of  meaning.  The 
time  and  labour,  however,  are  not  lost,  which  are  bestowed  on 
every  part  of  it.  Having  the  questions  in  their  memories, 
they  will  find  them  of  great  use  when  they  are  able  to  under- 
stand them  better. 

Besides  the  incapacity  of  children  to  understand  every  part 


352  THE  DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

of  the  Catechism,  there  is  another  thing  which  ought  to  be 
considered;  that  it  is  difficult,  if  possible,  to  engage  them  to 
attend  to  the  meaning  of  the  truths  contained  in  it.  For  this 
reason,  it  appears  to  me  highly  expedient  to  try  another  method 
of  drawing  their  attention  to  the  capital  truths  of  our  religion. 
The  method  I  mean  is,  to  make  them  early  acquainted  with 
the  history  of  the  Bible,  by  repeating  it  in  their  ears,  as  soon 
as  tliev  are  disposed  to  listen  to  it,  which  they  will  be  before 
they  are  able  to  read  it,  and  long  before  they  can  derive  much 
profit  from  the  reading.  It  happens,  very  disadvantageously 
to  our  young  people  in  North  Britain,  that  the  language  gen- 
erally spoken  is  very  different  in  multitudes  of  words,  from 
the  language  which  we  read.  Young  persons,  therefore,  have 
learned  to  read  long  before  they  can  form  clear  apprehensions 
of  the  meaning  of  what  they  read ;  nor  can  they  be  expected 
to  pay  tlie  same  attention  to  the  meaning  of  what  they  read, 
as  of  what  they  hear.  A  minute's  discourse  from  the  mouth 
of  one  whom  they  respect,  will  give  them,  in  their  earliest 
years,  more  knowledge  than  an  hour^s  reading,  if  he  adapts 
his  manner  of  speaking  to  their  understanding,  and  to  their 
taste.  Xor  will  it  be  difficult  for  him  to  know  when  they 
understand  and  relish  what  he  says.  Tell  them  the  story  of 
Joseph  in  a  manner  suited  to  their  years,  and  their  eyes  will 
be  fixed  upon  you.  They  will  drink  in  your  words  as  the 
earth  drinketh  in  the  rain.  They  will  almost  weep  when  you 
speak  of  the  pit,  and  of  the  tears  of  Joseph.  They  will  beg 
to  hear  the  story  an  hundred  times.  They  will  submit  to  any 
task  you  may  choose  to  impose  on  them,  if  you  will  give  them 
stories  al>out  Joseph,  or  Elijah,  or  Daniel,  or  the  three  children. 
When  you  teach  them  the  histories  of  the  Bible,  you  teach 
them  its  most  important  doctrines  and  precepts;  for  these  are 
contained  in  the  facts  which  you  relate,  or  arise  out  of  them 
so  naturally,  that  they  will  impress  themselves  upon  the  minds 
of  your  children,  whether  you  mention  them  expressly  or  not. 
What  though  they  cannot  tell  you  what  is  meant  by  the  al- 
mightiness  of  God,  when  you  have  given  them  the  history  of 
the  creation?  They  do  not  yet  understand  what  is  meant  by 
the  words  used  in  expressing  that  attribute  of  the  Most  High ; 


SERMON  II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  353 

but  they  see  that  God  does  every  thing  he  pleases  by  the  word 
of  his  power.  Or  wliat  though  they  cannot  tell  what  is  meant 
by  original  sin?  When  you  have  told  them  the  story  of  Adam's 
fall,  and  of  the  introduction  of  death  into  the  world  by  his 
sin,  do  they  not  see  as  plainly  as  they  can  be  made  to  see  it, 
that  man  was  made  in  a  holy  and  happy  state,  and  that  he  is 
now  in  a  state  of  sin  and  misery?  When  you  give  them  the 
history  of  the  birth,  of  the  life,  of  the  death,  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God,  have  they  not  heard  the  great  doc- 
trines that  relate  to  our  redemption?  Have  you  not  taught 
them  all  that  you  can  teach  children  of  the  grace  and  glory  of 
our  Redeemer?  and  if  the  Spirit  of  God  give  the  blessing 
which  you  seek  and  expect  to  your  instructions,  are  they  not 
prepared  to  love  and  trust  the  only  Saviour? 

By  such  instructions  as  these,  it  may  be  hoped  that  they 
will,  with  ease,  be  enabled,  in  a  few  years,  to  form  a  far  clearer 
judgment  than  they  could  do  without  them,  of  the  truths 
taught  in  their  catechisms.  They  will  know  what  is  meant 
by  'Christ's  offering  up  of  himself  a  sacrifice  to  satisfy  divine 
justice';  what  is  meant  by  Hhe  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
to  us';  what  is  meant  by  ^the  Spirit's  application  of  the  re- 
demption purchased  by  Christ.'  For  they  have  already  often 
heard  how  the  Son  of  God  came  into  the  world ;  how  he  ful- 
filled all  righteousness;  how  he  became  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  cross;  and  how  he  sent  his  Spirit  to  men, 
after  he  was  taken  up  to  heaven. 

But,  before  they  can  form  these  apprehensions  of  the  doc- 
trines of  religion,  which  persons  of  mature  age  learn,  with 
advantage,  from  systems  of  divinity,  they  may  probably  de- 
rive another  advantage  of  infinitely  greater  consequence.  The 
things  which  they  have  been  taught,  may  be  the  seed  of  true 
faith,  and  of  holy  obedience,  through  the  effectual  working  of 
the  blessed  Spirit.  When  Peter  told  Cornelius  the  leading 
facts  of  the  history  of  Jesus,  intermingling  his  discourse  with 
a  few  observations  naturally  connected  with  them,  the  Spirit 
of  God  came  upon  Cornelius  and  his  friends.  When  the  apostles 
preached  the  gospel  every  where,  the  great  subject  of  their  dis- 
courses was  the  things  recorded  by  the  evangelists;  the  life,  the 
23 


354  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

works,  the  sufferings,  the  death,  the  resurrection,  and  exaltation 
of  our  Lord.  And  wherever  the  gospel  was  preached,  the  story 
of  the  holy  woman  that  poured  oil  on  his  head  was  told.* 

Will  it  be  asked  still.  What  authority  I  have  to  recommend 
this  mode  of  teaching?  Do  you  not  remember  that  Jesus  still 
tauo:ht  his  disciples,  and  the  multitudes,  as  they  were  able  to 
to  hear  and  understand?  If  you  are  followers  of  Jesus,  teach 
your  children  as  they  are  able  to  hear.  What  would  you  think 
of  ministers  who  preach  sermons  to  their  audiences,  that  can 
be  understood  only  by  students  of  divinity?  Would  they  not 
be  worthy  to  be  turned  out  of  their  pulpits?  Do  not  parents 
owe  the  same  care  to  their  children,  that  preachers  owe  to  their 
hearers? 

'Because  the  preacher  was  wise,  he  still  taught  the  people 
knowledge,'  and,  that  he  might  do  it  eifectually,  Mie  sought 
to  find  out  acceptable  words.'  Indeed,  if  your  words  are  not 
acceptable  to  your  hearers,  you  may  speak  as  much,  and  bring 
forth  as  much  hidden  knowledge  as  you  please,  but  you  will 

*  These  admirable  advices  by  our  author,  to  parents,  in  regard  to  the 
religious  instruction  of  their  children,  are  as  fully  suited  to  our  circum- 
stances and  times,  as  they  were  in  his  own  day  to  the  circumstances  of 
Scottish  Christians,  to  whom  they  were  originally  addressed.  In  some 
respects,  indeed,  they  may  justly  be  regarded  as  more  specially  applica- 
ble to  Christian  parents  in  these  United  States  of  America.  In  Dr.  Law- 
8on\s  days,  and  indeed,  we  may  truly  say,  down  to  the  present  time,  re- 
ligious instruction, — particularly,  the  careful  commission  to  memory  of 
'the  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism,'  with  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  com- 
mon school  book, — was,  and  continues  to  be,  an  essential  part  of  the  com- 
mon education  received  in  the  Parish  schools  of  Scotland ;  which  cor- 
reflpond  to  our  Common  schools  in  the  United  States:  whereas  it  is  well 
known  (and  we  have  taken  special  pains  to  ascertain  the  fact),  that,  with 
the  excei)tion,  perhaps,  of  the  daily  reading  of  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  by 
the  teacher  without  note  or  comment  (which  last  is  forbidden  by  the 
Directors),  religious  instruction  is  systematically  and  purposely  excluded 
from  our  American  Common  schools.  That  is,  by  common  consent,  left 
to  parents  and  to  Sabbath-schools.  This  is  greatly  to  be  regretted.  We 
do  not  advocate  the  fordhg  of  religious  instruction  upon  children  in  our 
Common  schools  against  the  wishes  of  their  parents,  especially  if  those 
objecting  parents  profess  another  religion  or  a  different  doctrinal  faith; 
but  there  is  little  practical  difficulty  in  providing,  by  proper  regulations, 
for  due  freedom  of  conscience  in  such  exceptional  cases — as  is  done  in 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  365 

neither  receive  thanks,  nor  can  you  have  the  reasonable  pros- 
pect of  doing  good;  and  I  do  not  think  you  will  find  out  any 
method  of  teaching  that  will  be  more  acceptable  to  young  per- 
sons, than  that  which  I  have  been  recommending. 

The  78th  Psalm  may  safely  be  commended  as  one  of  the 
most  useful  in  the  whole  sacred  collection;  and  one  to  which 
we  ought  to  pay  a  very  particular  attention,  if  the  address 
with  which  it  begins  is  divinely  authorized.  Now,  in  this 
psalm  we  have  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  the  ancient 
believers  taught  their  children  the  truths  of  God,  and  nour- 
ished them  up  in  the  words  of  faith  and  of  sound  doctrine. 
'Give  ear,  O  my  people,  to  my  law,'  says  the  holy  psalm- 
writer;  *  incline  your  ear  to  the  words  of  my  mouth.  I  will 
open  my  mouth  in  a  parable;  I  will  utter  dark  sayings  of  old, 
which  w^e  have  heard  and  known,  and  our  fathers  have  told 

the  National  schools  of  Ireland,  and  indeed  has  always  been  practically 
done  in  the  schools  of  Scotland. 

We  specially  recommend  these  excellent  instructions  of  our  author  to 
parents,  to  the  diligent  attention  and  practice,  also,  of  Sabbath- school 
teachers.  This  class  of  religious  instructors  has  greatly  increased  since 
Dr.  Lawson's  day.  And  yet  we  will  say,  that  with  all  our  boasted  modern 
light  and  improvement  in  the  art  of  imparting  religious  instruction  to  the 
young  in  Sabbath-schools,  we  have  never  read  in  any  published  addresses 
delivered  in  modern  Sabbath-school  Conventions,  or  li^jtened  to  from  the 
mouths  of  modern  Sabbath-school  orators,  any  thing  at  once  so  pointed 
and  so  suitable,  as  is  contained  in  these  few  pages  by  our  author,  of  advices 
to  parents  in  regard  to  the  religious  instruction  of  their  children.  How 
far  advanced  was  our  author,  even  in  his  time,  in  regard  to  the  breadth 
and  comprehensiveness  of  his  views,  of  many  in  our  own  day  who  con- 
sider themselves  'representative  men,' and  who  loudly  blow  their  own 
trumpets  in  our  modern  Sabbath-school  Conventions !— in  some  of  which, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  novel  and  sensational  plans  and  methods  occupy  too 
prominent  a  place;  while  too  little  attention  is  given  to  the  great  busi- 
ness of  the  Sabbath-school,  namely,— the  imparting  sound  and  solid  re- 
ligious instruction  in  the  Word  of  God  to  the  souls  of  the  young. 

The  subsequent  remarks  of  our  author  in  this  passage  may  also  suggest 
to  Pastors  the  important  duty  of  frequently  preaching  Sermons  exclu- 
sively to  the  young— the  lambs  of  their  flock.  We  are  happy  to  know 
that  a  number  of  Pastors  have  adopted  the  practice  of  preaching  a  Monthly 
Sermon  to  the  children  of  their  Sabbath-school— an  example  worthy  of 
general  imitation. — Ed. 


356  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

us/  What  were  those  things  which  their  fathers  had  told 
them?  The  facts  which  Moses  and  Joshua,  and  other  prophets, 
recorded  in  their  histories.  And  as  their  fathers  had  told 
them  these  pieces  of  history,  they  were  bound,  in  duty  to  their 
fathers,  to  God,  to  their  own  children,  to  speak  of  them  to  the 
risiuo-  race,  and  might  promise  themselves  the  happiest  effects 
from  such  instructions.  '  We  will  not  hide  them  from  their 
children,  showing  to  the  generation  to  come  the  praises  of  the 
Lord,  and  his  strength,  and  his  wonderful  works  that  he  hath 
done.'  They  did  no  more  than  God  had  commanded  them  to 
do,  when  they  showed  to  their  children  the  praises  of  the  Lord, 
and  his  strength,  and  his  wonderful  works.  'For  he  estab- 
lished a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law  in  Israel,, 
which  he  commanded  our  fathers  that  they  should  make  them 
known  to  their  children;  that  the  generation  to  come  might 
know  them,  even  the  children  which  should  be  born,  who 
should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  children,  that  they 
might  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God, 
but  keep  his  commandments.^ 

We  are  all  commanded  to  speak  of  the  works  of  God  to  one 
another;  and  how  can  we  pretend  to  be  lovers  of  God,  if  we 
reckon  this  commandment  grievous?  Parents,  in  particular, 
are  required  to  speak  of  the  works  of  God  to  their  children. 
*  These  words,'  says  Moses,  Svhich  I  command  thee  this  day, 
filial  1  be  in  thine  heart,  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently 
to  thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way;  when  thou 
best  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.'  This  precept,  as  its  im~ 
])ortance  well  deserves,  is  found,  almost  in  the  same  words,  in 
two  (litl'crL'Ht  passages  of  the  concluding  exhortations  of  Moses 
to  his  beloved  nation  of  Israel;  Deut.  vi.  6,  7;  xi.  18,  19. 
'These  words  which  I  command  thee:'— What  words?  Kot 
merely  the  laws  which  were  to  be  observed  by  the  people,  but 
the  histories  recorded  by  Moses,  in  which  alone  the  meaning 
of  many  of  them  is  to  be  found,  and  by  which  they  are  all 
powerfully  enforce<l.  When  the  histories  were  forgotten,  the 
laws  were  disregarded,  or  the  observance  of  them  was  perverted 
into  a  mere  form,  or  into  somethino^  worse.     How  could  it  be 


SEKMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  357 

otherwise,  when  the  express  intention  of  several  of  the  laws 
was  to  preserve  alive  the  remembrance  of  the  works  of  the 
Lord;  to  excite  the  curiosity  of  those  who  had  not  yet  heard  of 
them;  and  to  give  to  parents  a  favourable  opportunity  for  com- 
municating the  knowledge  of  them  to  their  children.     The 
ordinance  of  the  Sabbath  was  intended  to  keep  up  the  remem- 
brance of  the  work  of  creation.     The  ordinance  of  circumcision 
was  intended  to  keep  up  the  remembrance  of  God's  gracious 
'covenant  made  with  Abraham,  the  word  which  he  command- 
ed to  a  thousand  generations.'     Various  other  ordinances  were 
appointed  to  preserve  the  remembrance  of  what  the  Lord  did 
in  Egypt,  and  at  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  the  wilderness.     '  And  it 
shall  be,'  said  Moses  concerning  the  law  of  dedicating  the  first- 
born to  the  Lord,  Svhen  thy  son  asketh  thee  in  time  to  come, 
What  is  this?  then  thou  shalt  say  unto  him.  By  strength  of 
hand  the  Lord  brought  us  out  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of 
bondage.     And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  would  hardly 
let  us  go,  that  the  Lord  slew  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  both  the  first-born  of  man  and  the  first-born  of  beasts; 
therefore  1  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  all  that  openeth  the  matrix, 
being  males;  but  all  the  first-born  of  my  children  I  redeem'; 
Exod.  xiii.  14-16.     A  like  injunction  is  given  to  the  people 
concerning  the  feast  of  the  Passover;  Exod.  xii. 

'When  Israel  was  a  child,  God  loved  him,  and  called  his 
son  out  of  Egypt,'  and  Med  him  about,  and  instructed  him,'  as 
a  father  does  the  son  whom  he  desires  to  train  up  in  the  way 
wherein  he  should  go.  And  one  of  the  ways  whereby  he  in- 
structed him,  was  by  directing  Moses  to  write,  for  his  use,  a* 
history  of  all  the  most  wonderful  things  that  the  Lord  had 
done,  from  the  time  that  man  was  placed  upon  the  earth.  If 
God  suited  the  means  of  knowledge  and  grace  to  the  state  of 
his  church  when  she  was  yet  in  her  childhood,  ought  not  pa- 
rents to  suit  their  instructions  to  the  capacity  of  their  children 
also,  and  to  place  before  their  eyes  those  sensible  displays  of 
divine  truth  with  which  we  are  furnished  in  so  rich  abundance 
by  God  himself?  And  if  those  discoveries  of  divine  things 
which  suited  the  childhood  of  the  church  were  effectual  means 
of  faith  and  salvation,  who  can  doubt  but  means  of  instruction, 


308  THE   DUTY   OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

suited  to  the  tender  age  of  our  own  children,  may  be  attended 
with  the  same  happy  effects?  Gal.  iv.  1-7. 

The  duties  of  religion  may  be  taught  with  great  advantage 
in  the  same  way.  Tell  them  of  the  faith  of  Abraham;  of  the 
centurion;  of  the  Syro-phenician  woman;  of  Paul;  that  you 
may  teach  them  to  rely  on  the  power,  on  the  mercy,  on  the 
word  of  God.  When  you  tell  them  the  history  of  Joseph, 
vou  teach  them  to  obey  their  parents;  to  love  their  brethren; 
to  forii^ive  injuries;  to  bear  afflictions;  to  abhor  sin,  even  when 
it  promises  the  greatest  advantages;  and  to  resist  temptations 
to  sin,  at  the  risk  of  liberty  and  life.  Tell  them  how  Jesus 
lived,  and  how  he  died,  and  you  teach  them  every  virtue. 

Whilst  the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  yet  but  children  in  un- 
derstanding, he  put  them  in  mind  of  the  miracle  of  the  loaves, 
when  they  were  afraid  of  wanting  bread ;  and  censured  them 
for  not  drawing  that  conclusion  which  naturally  arose  from 
the  miracle. 

Our  Lord  exemplifies  another  method  of  instruction,  which 
may  be  very  profitably  used  with  children  by  parents  qualified 
to  use  it  with  advantage.  He  drew  the  most  precious  instruc- 
tions from  such  objects  as  were  best  known  to  them;  and  often, 
perhaps,  when  these  objects  were  present  to  their  view.  At  a 
feast,  he  spoke  of  that  feast  of  fat  things  which  is  set  before 
us  in  the  gospel.  It  is  probable,  that  some  lilies  were  in  the 
view  of  the  disciples,  and  that  they  beheld  some  fowls  flying 
about  in  the  air,  when  Jesus  said  to  them,  ^Behold  the  fowls 
of  the  air— Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field;'  Matt.  vi.  26-34. 
Luke  xiv.     John  vi.  2(j,  27. 

I  might  farther  observe,  that  we  are  not  bound  to  confine 
ourselves  to  the  histories  of  Scripture,  in  teaching  young  per- 
sons what  they  are  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty 
God  re(juires  of  man.  It  will  be  of  great  use  to  them,  when 
they  are  qualified  to  profit  by  it,  to  entertain  them  with  some 
accounts  of  God's  dealings  with  the  Christian  church,  in  vari- 
ous places  of  the  world,  and  especially  in  our  own  land,  and 
to  set  before  them  the  brightest  examples  of  virtue  which  the 
annals  of  our  forefathers,  or  any  other  uninspired  writings 


SERMON    II.]  TO   THEIK   CHILDREN.  359 

furnish.  Scripture  itself  often  refers  us  to  human  histories 
for  useful  information;  Esther  x.  2.    Numb.  xxi.  14,  15. 

2.  Parents  must  brine/  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,  by  the  due  exercise  of  parental  authority 
over  them. 

'1  know  Abraham/  says  the  Lord,  Hhat  he  will  command 
his  children  and  his  household  after  him,  to  keep  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  to  do  judgment  and  justice.'  If  Abraham  had  only 
told  his  family  what  it  was  fit  for  them  to  do ;  if  he  had  only 
advised  and  urged  them  to  do  their  duty,  without  enjoining 
them  to  do  what  was  agreeable  to  the  mind  of  God ;  he  would 
not  have  obtained  this  commendation  from  the  Lord.  Eli 
told  his  children  that  their  conduct  was  very  offensive  to  God, 
and  would  be  followed  with  fatal  consequences  to  themselves; 
but  because  he  did  not  exert  his  authority  to  enforce  his  ad- 
monitions, the  Lord  justly  complained  of  him  as  a  partner  in 
the  wickedness  of  his  sons,  and  threatened  to  inflict  such  ven- 
geance on  the  house  of  Eli,  as  would  cause  the  ears  of  all  that 
heard  of  it  to  tingle. 

Eli  was,  indeed,  more  than  a  father  to  his  sons,  for  he  was 
the  judge  of  Israel,  and  ought  to  have  inflicted  on  them  the 
penalties  of  the  law;  but  any  father  of  such  sons  in  Israel 
might,  by  a  legal  process,  have  procured  the  execution  of  these 
penalties :  and  although  we  are  neither  in  Eli's  station,  nor 
under  the  political  laws  of  the  Jews,  yet  we  are  kings  in  our 
own  families,  and  ought  to  have  our  children  in  subjection ; 
for  the  Lord  hath  given  the  father  honour  over  his  children, 
and  hath  established  the  authority  of  the  mother  over  her  sons. 

When  you  find  it  required  in  those  who  are  to  be  invested 
with  the  office  of  bishops,  that  they  must  ^have  their  children 
in  subjection  with  all  gravity,'  you  are  not  to  think  that  other 
parents  are  left  at  liberty  to  surrender  the  authority  with  which 
God  hath  entrusted  them  over  their  children.  When  God 
will  admit  none  into  the  sacred  ministry  that  knows  not  how 
to  govern  his  own  house,  he  sets  a  mark  of  his  disapprobation 
upon  all  those  parents,  who,  through  sloth,  or  weakness,  or 
foolish  fondness,  suffer  their  children  to  do  what  they  please; 
1  Tim.  iii.  4,  5;  12. 


360  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

AVhat  would  you  think  of  a  king,  who  was  so  averse  to  se- 
verities in  his  administration,  as  to  suffer  every  man  in  his 
dominions  to  do  what  he  pleased?  Could  the  worst  tyrant 
in  the  world  do  more  to  make  his  subjects  miserable  and 
wicked?  The  mischief  that  would  result  to  a  single  family 
from  the  want  of  due  control,  would  bear  the  same  proportion 
to  the  state  of  such  a  king's  dominions,  as  a  family  bears  to  a 
nation.  The  exercise  of  authority  in  a  family  where  the  chil- 
dren are  young,  is  more  necessary,  if  possible,  than  the  due 
exercise  of  royal  power  in  a  nation ;  because  men  of  mature 
age  may  possibly  be  able  and  willing  to  govern  themselves, 
but  every  child  left  to  himself  must  bring  his  parents  to  shame. 
Indeed,  the  shame  of  his  conduct  must  fall  upon  them,  rather 
than  upon  himself;  because  it  belongs  to  them,  more  than  to 
himself,  to  govern  his  conduct. 

Every  father  will  find  it  necessary,  in  many  instances,  to 
exercise  authority  over  his  children.  ,  His  house  would  soon 
become  an  unpleasant  dwelling  to  him,  if  he  suffered  young 
children,  without  restraint,  to  do  whatever  they  pleased.  He 
will  not  suffer  them  to  carry  burning  sticks  through  the  house, 
or  to  dash  the  cups  and  platters  upon  the  ground.  But  if 
j)arents  find  it  absolutely  necessary,  for  the  security  of  their 
life  and  property,  to  exert  authority,  why  should  they  not  exert 
it  likewise  to  enjoin  on  them  those  duties  which  God  requires, 
and  to  restrain  them  from  doing  what  he  forbids?  What  are 
we  to  think  of  parents  who  will  not  allow  their  children  to 
break  a  china-cup,  and  yet  will  suffer  them  to  break  the  com- 
mandments of  God?  Can  those  men  be  called  Christians,  who 
will  tolerate  sin  in  their  families,  whilst  they  tolerate  nothing 
that  is,  in  the  smallest  degree,  injurious  to  their  secular  in- 
terests? 

Command  your  children  to  read  the  Bible;  to  learn  the 
questions  of  their  Catechism ;  to  pray  every  morning  and  even- 
ing. Take  them  with  you  to  the  public  assembly  of  worship- 
pers, and  see  that  they  behave  with  decency  and  propriety. 
Forbid  them  to  lie,  to  sport  themselves  on  the  Lord's  day,  or 
to  behave  disrespectfully  to  those  whom  they  ought  to  rever- 
ence for  their  station  or  their  age.     See  that  no  corrupt  com- 


SERMON   ir.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  361 

munication  come  out  of  their  mouths.  And  lot  your  injunc- 
tions be  suited  to  their  circumstances,  their  years,  and  their 
temptations. 

There  is  nothing  in  which  you  will  find  it  more  necessary 
to  exert  your  authority,  than  in  guarding  your  children  against 
bad  company.     In  that  golden  book  which  Solomon  wrote, 
Ho  give  subtilty  to  the  simple,  to  the  young  man  knowledge 
and  discretion,^  the  first  precept,  after  that  of  fearing  the  Lord, 
and  giving  due  honour  to  parents,  is  contained  in  these  words: 
^My  son,  if  sinners  entice  thee,  consent  thou  not:  My  son, 
walk  not  thou  in  the  way  with  them,  refrain  thy  foot  from 
their  path.^     Nor  did  the  wise  man  think  it  sufficient  to  lay 
down  this  precept  in  the  beginning  of  his  book.     He  often  re- 
sumes it:  'Enter  not,'  he  says  again,  'into  the  path  of  the 
wicked,  and  go  not  in  the  way  of  evil  men :  Avoid  it,  pass  not 
by  it,  turn  from  it,  and  pass  away.     He  that  walketh  with 
wise  men  shall  be  wise;  but  a  companion  of  fools  shall  be  de- 
stroyed.    Hear  thou,  my  son,  and  be  wise,  and  guide  thine 
heart  in  the  way.      Be  not  amongst  wine-bibbers,  amongst 
riotous  eaters  of  flesh.'     Admonitions  to  young  persons  are 
admonitions  to  parents  likewise,  because  parents  ought  to  watch 
over  them  as  those  that  must  give  account.     Young  children 
cannot  be  expected  to  make  a  proper  choice  of  their  compan- 
ions, without  direction  from  their  parents.     And  as  many  vi- 
cious young  persons  are  possessed  of  insinuating  manners,  and 
an  engaging  behaviour,  they  may  render  themselves  too  agree- 
able to  other  young  persons;  in  which  case,  authority,  as  well 
as  advice,  will  be  necessary  to  prevent  a  connection  that  may 
be  attended  with  disageeable  consequences.  AVhat  father  would 
suffer  the  child  whom  he  loves  to  go  into  a  house  where  other 
children  are  dying  by  a  putrid  fever,  or  by  the  small-pox,  if 
he  had  not  already  escaped  from  that  disease?     How  much 
more  pernicious  is  the  infection  of  bad  manners  than  the  small- 
pox, or  the  most  pestilential  fever?     Where  is  our  regard  to 
God,  or  to  the  souls  of  our  children,  if  we  do  not  guard  them, 
with  greater  anxiety,  from  every  thing  that  may  ruin  their 
souls,  than  from  those  distempers  which  may  prove  fatal  to 
their  bodies? 


3g2  THE   DUTY   OF  PARENTS  [SERMON   II. 

As  virtue  is  a  part  of  religion,  and  industry  is  essential  to 
virtuous  conduct,  it  is  necessary  for  those  who  desire  to  bring 
up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord, 
that  where  circumstances  will  admit  of  it,  they  should  make 
use  of  thi'ir  authority  to  educate  them  in  habits  of  industry. 
Men  were  not  made  by  God  to  play  on  the  dry  land,  like  the 
leviathan  in  the  waters.  But  if  habits  of  industry  are  not  ac- 
quired in  early  years,  it  will  never  become  pleasant;  and  those 
who  are  not  employed  in  doing  something  that  is  good,  if  they 
enjoy  health,  will  be  doing  something  that  is  not  good;  1  Tim. 
V.  13.  I  do  not,  however,  mean  that  you  should  restrain  them 
from  employing  a  reasonable  portion  of  time  in  those  sports 
which  are  useful  to  cheer  their  spirits,  and  to  strengthen  their 
bodies;  especially  in  that  period  of  childhood  when  they  are 
yet  unfit  for  useful  labour.  We  behold  one  of  the  many  in- 
stances of  divine  mercy  which  we  enjoy,  when  we  pass  through 
our  towns,  and  see  them  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing  in  their 
streets;  Zech.  viii.  5. 

AVhen  I  exhort  you  to  use  your  authority  over  your  children, 
to  train  them  up  in  the  way  that  they  should  go,  some  of  you 
will  probably  allege  that  you  find  it  very  difficult  to  maintain 
your  authority ;  and  that  you  would  be  glad  of  some  directions 
on  this  subject.  You  have  sufficient  direction  in  the  text, 
and  in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon.  Here  you  are  taught  to  treat 
your  children  with  justice  and  mildness.  If  you  do  so,  your 
children  are  very  perverse  if  they  do  not  obey  you.  They 
8oon  feel  their  dependence  upon  you;  and  if,  at  the  same  time, 
you  make  them  to  love  you,  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  do, 
your  word  will  be  a  law  to  them.  There  is  nothing  which 
they  will  dread  more  than  offending  you,  and  forfeiting  your 
smiles.  A  slight  hint  will  do  more  with  them,  than  a  hun- 
dred lashes  from  a  tyrant  whom  his  unhappy  children  despair 
of  pleasing. 

Foolishness,  however,  is  bound  up  in  the  hearts  of  children, 
and  words  of  reproof,  or  the  rod  of  correction,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  both  together,  are  necessary  to  drive  it  far  from  them. 

You  must  reprove  and  rebuke  your  children,  when  they 
wiliully  transgress  your  orders,  or  break  the  commandments 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  363 

of  God.  It  is  not  mentioned  to  the  honour  of  David,  that  lie 
had  never  said  to  his  son  Adonijah,  ^  Why  hast  thou  done  so?* 
If  David  had  been  less  sparing  of  his  reproofs,  it  is  probable 
that  Adonijah  would  not  have  rebelled  against  him  in  his  old 
age.  His  ambition  prevailed  over  his  love  to  his  indulgent 
father,  for  his  love  was  not  coupled  with  fear.  As  a  twofold 
cord  is  not  easily  broken,  so  the  united  principles  of  fear  and 
love  to  parents  will,  for  the  most  })art,  be  a  powerful  restraint 
upon  those  corrupt  dispositions  of  children,  by  which  they  may 
be  tempted  to  embitter  the  days  of  their  parents. 

When  I  exhort  you  to  reprove  and  admonish  your  offending 
children,  do  not  imagine  that  I  call  you,  on  any  occasion,  to 
cast  away  the  bowels  of  a  father.  What  father  on  earth  is  to 
be  compared,  for  kindness  to  his  children,  with  our  heavenly 
Father?  and  yet  he  often  rebukes,  and  reproves,  and  chastens. 
*He  scourges  every  son  whom  he  receives: — Be  ye  followers  of 
God,  as  dear  children,'  and  frequently  recollect,  for  the  direc- 
tion of  your  parental  behaviour,  that  you  also  have  a  Father 
in  heaven. 

Your  heavenly  Father  spares  you,  ^as  a  man  spares  his  son 
that  serves  him.'  He  does  not  enter  into  judgment  with  you, 
because  you  are  not  so  perfect  as  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  he 
restrains  your  corruptions  by  his  gracious  discipline ;  and  when 
you  do  not  vigorously  oppose  the  workings  of  the  law  of  sin 
in  your  members,  he  makes  you  sensible  of  his  displeasure  by 
the  withdrawment  of  his  heavenly  consolations,  by  the  up- 
braidings  of  your  own  consciences,  or  by  his  rod  upon  your 
persons,  your  estates,  your  characters.  Are  you  not  thankful 
that  he  does  not  leave  you  to  yourselves,  but  rebukes  and 
chastens  you,  that  you  may  be  partakers  of  his  holiness?  AVere 
there  any  passage  of  the  Bible  which  assured  you  of  exemption 
from  chastisement,  would  you  consider  it  as  a  promise?  Would 
you  not  consider  it  as  one  of  the  most  tremendous  threatcnings 
that  could  be  uttered  by  the  mouth  of  God?  AVhy,  then,  do 
you  imagine  that  parental  love  should  hinder  you  from  s])eak- 
ing  an  unpleasant  word  to  your  children?  You  do  not  luve 
them,  you  hate  them  with  a  deadly  hatred,  if  you  do  not  reprove 
and  rebuke  them  with  all  authority,  when  you  see  them  sinning 


364  THE   DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

against  their  own  souls.  If  you  saw  them  sporting  with  a 
sharp  knife,  you  would  run  and  pull  it  with  all  haste  out  of 
their  hands.  If  you  saw  them  amusing  themselves  with  an 
adder,  and  pleased  with  the  sight  of  its  speckled  skin,  would 
you  not  venture  your  own  lives,  to  remove  it  from  their  reach, 
before  they  received  a  fatal  wound  from  its  deadly  sting?  But 
no  serpent  is  so  deadly  as  sin.  Flee  from  sin,  and  cause  your 
children  to  flee  from  it,  as  from  the  face  of  a  serpent.  The 
teeth  thereof  are  as  the  teeth  of  a  lion,  slaying  the  souls  of  men. 

When  God  rebukes  his  people,  he  'remembers  mercy  in  the 
midst  of  wrath.'  He  will  not  lay  upon  them  more  than  is 
meet  and  necessary  for  accomplishing  the  purposes  of  his  love. 
He  adjusts  his  corrections,  not  to  their  demerits,  but  to  his 
gracious  designs  of  promoting  and  perfecting  the  work  of  their 
sanctification.  Thus,  in  reproving  our  children,  we  ought  still 
to  have  their  benefit  in  view.  We  may  testify  hot  displeasure, 
but  we  must  not  discover  any  degree  of  hatred  or  revenge. 
They  are  but  children,  and  we  who  are  men  have  our  faults. 
Their  spirits  may  be  crushed,  they  may  despair  of  ever  pleasing 
us;  and  such  despair  may  harden  their  hearts  against  reproof, 
when  they  find  us  inflamed  with  fierce  resentment  for  every 
fault. 

The  Lord  will  not  contend  with  his  children,  nor  even  with 
his  enemies,  without  good  reason.  He  would  not  destroy  the 
Sodomites,  though  wicked,  and  sinners  before  the  Lord  exceed- 
ingly, without  'knowing  whether  their  iniquity  was  altogether 
as  the  cry  that  had  come  up  unto  him.'  It  is  said  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  'he  shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes, 
nor  reprove  after  the  hearing  of  his  ears,  but  shall  judge  with 
rigliteousness  the  poor,  and  reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek 
of  the  earth.'  Thus  parents,  in  reproving  their  children,  are 
not  to  proceed  upon  mere  surmises,  nor  to  prostitute  their  au- 
thority by  reprimands  that  may  very  possibly  be  undeserved. 
If  a  matter  is  dubious,  and  yet  deserving  cognizance,  let  them 
rest  satisfied  with  such  admonitions  as  do  not  imply  a  pre- 
sumption of  guilt,  or  let  them  make  proi>er  inquiries  before 
they  fix  blame.  Jiut  it  is  not  safe,  for  the  most  part,  to  in- 
terrogate children  themselves,  so  as  to  require  them  to  be  their 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR  CHILDREN.  365 

own  accusers.  This  is  strongly  tempting  them  to  lie ;  and  it 
is  better  to  let  some  faults  pass  uncensured,  and  to  rest  satis- 
fied with  general  admonitions,  even  where  there  is  a  presump- 
tion of  blameable  conduct,  than  to  refer  their  guilt  or  inno- 
cency  to  their  own  testimony.  If  you  tempt  them  to  lie  once 
or  twice,  you  may  lead  them  into  a  habit  of  one  of  the  meanest 
and  most  pernicious  vices  of  which  human  nature  is  capable ; 
for  what  can  be  worse  than  to  become  exact  resemblances  of 
the  father  of  lies  ?  Few  men  ever  lied  for  the  first  or  the 
second  time,  without  an  inward  sense  of  shame  or  terror.  But, 
let  a  child  be  strongly  tempted  to  lie  now  and  then  in  order 
to  conceal  his  faults,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  lying  will 
become  his  habitual  practice,  and  will  ruin  him  both  in  this 
world  and  in  the  next. 

The  Lord  will  not  be  always  contending  with  his  children, 
he  will  not  draw  out  his  displeasure  against  them  for  ever ; 
and  fathers  that  deserve  the  name  will  not  be  constantly  re- 
proving their  children.  This  would  be  to  alienate  their 
hearts  from  their  parents,  and  tempt  them  to  think  that  pa- 
rental authority  is  a  yoke  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  It  might 
prompt  them  to  some  desperate  attempts  for  shaking  it  oif, 
and  thus  produce  effects  that  would  be  sorely  felt  to  the  day 
of  the  death  of  both  parents  and  children,  and  through  eternity 
itself. 

^The  Lord  is  wonderful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  work- 
ing,' both  when  he  smiles  upon  his  children,  and  when  he 
contends  with  them.  He  mingles  judgment  with  mercy,  and 
he  regulates  and  proportions  his  chastisements  with  a  variety 
of  procedure  wonderfully  calculated  to  accomplish  the  ends 
which  he  designs;  Isa.  xxviii.  23-29.  We  cannot  pretend  to 
a  close  imitation  of  the  wisdom  of  His  conduct  in  the  manage- 
ment of  our  children,  because  we  have  but  a  very  contracted 
view  of  those  circumstances,  events,  and  efiects,  which  would 
determine  our  conduct  if  they  could  be  known.  "We  can  only 
conjecture  what  effect  particular  acts  of  parental  discipline  may 
have.  Yet  there  are  general  rules  of  procedure  which  it  is 
safe  to  observe,  and  which  afford  no  reason  for  bitter  self- 
reflection,  and  give  no  occasion  for  censure  from  others,  when 


366  THE   DUTY  OF   PARENTS  [SERMON   11, 

we  observe  them,  although  the  consequences  may  not  be  such 
as  we  wish  and  expect;  for  we  are  not  bound  to  be  prophets. 
We  are  accountable  for  the  morality  of  our  conduct,  but  not 
for  its  effects. 

We  ought,  in  reproving  (and  the  same  rule  ought  to  be  ap- 
plied to  correction),  to  consider  persons,  times,  places,  circum- 
stances of  several  different  kinds,  that  the  end  may,  if  possible, 
be  gained.  There  is  no  partiality  in  correcting  or  reproving 
one  child  more  severely  than  another  for  the  same  fault,  if 
there  be  a  good  reason  for  the  difference  that  is  made  between 
them.  *A  reproof  entereth  into  a  wise  man,  more  than  an 
hundred  stripes  into  a  fool.^  Some  children  are  wise,  and 
some  are  foolish.  To  some  a  word,  or  even  a  hint,  is  sufficient. 
To  some  ten,  or  a  hundred  blows,  are  insufficient  to  convince 
them  of  their  errors.  Why  should  parents  run  into  an  error, 
when  they  are  correcting  error?  Too  much,  or  too  little,  are 
both  errors.  Only,  the  last  can  more  easily  be  repaired,  be- 
cause what  is  undone  may  be  done,  but  what  is  done  cannot 
be  undone. 

There  is  a  time  for  every  thing.  There  is  a  time  for  cor- 
recting, and  a  time  for  with-holding  correction.  With-hold 
not  correction  when  it  may  be  profitable;  but,  although  a 
fault  has  been  committed,  it  may  be  inexpedient  to  correct, 
till  a  more  convenient  season  is  come.  If,  for  instance,  you 
correct  your  child  before  he  is  duly  informed  concerning  the 
nature  of  his  fault,  he  will  be  only  exasperated  and  hardened. 

There  is  a  sense  of  honour  in  the  minds  of  young  persons, 
as  well  as  of  their  seniors.  If  you  are  too  open  with  your  re- 
proof and  corrections,  their  sensibility  is  awakened  to  violence 
of  passion ;  and  whilst  you  endeavour  to  amend  a  fault,  you 
tempt  them  to  the  commission  of  worse  faults.  There  are, 
however,  cases  in  which  publicity  of  reproof  or  correction  may 
be  necessary,  either  to  make  the  impression  sufficiently  deep 
on  the  mind  of  the  child  corrected,  or  for  a  warning  to  others. 
Wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct  in  what  cases  this  may  be  ne- 
cessary. So  many  circumstances  must  come  into  account,  that 
it  is  not  easy,  if  possible,  to  lay  down  particular  rules,  with- 
out multiplying  and  modifying  them  without  end. 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  367 

One  of  the  most  necessary  rules  concerning  admonition  and 
correction  is,  never  to  begin  without  intending  to  make  an 
end.  I  do  not  say,  without  making  an  end;  because  you 
may  have  been  unwise  in  beginning,  and  ought  to  proceed  no 
further;  or  circumstances  may  occur,  which  render  it  inex- 
pedient to  finish  what  is  begun.  But  this  I  say,  that  when 
you  enter  into  controversy  with  any  of  your  children,  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  you  should  prevail  in  the  contest. 
If  he  gains  his  point,  your  authority  is  weakened,  and  he  is 
encouraged  and  emboldened  to  repeat  his  offenses.  Never, 
therefore,  enter  upon  a  business  of  this  kind,  without  a  rea- 
sonable prospect  of  success.  Better  to  leave  your  child  un- 
chastised,  than  to  chastise  him  into  greater  perverseness ;  which 
is  likely  to  be  the  case  when  you  leave  him  without  making 
him  to  repent  of  what  he  has  done,  and  to  resolve  that  he  will 
do  so  no  more. 

There  are  some  parents  who  do  not  consider  the  difference 
between  reproving  and  threatening.  When  they  are  displeased 
with  their  children,  they  do  not  endeavour  to  make  them  sen- 
sible of  the  evil  of  what  they  have  done,  that  they  may  be 
convinced  and  reformed,  but  they  terrify  them  by  threatenings; 
the  effect  of  which  will  be,  that  the  repetition  of  the  fault  may 
be  prevented  for  some  little  time,  whilst  the  child  is  under 
the  eye  of  the  parent,  but  he  will  soon  lose  the  impression; 
or  even,  whilst  it  continues,  will  not  scruple  to  commit  the 
same  fault,  when  he  hopes  to  escape  detection.  And  we  know 
that  children  easily  form  such  hopes,  when  they  feel  them- 
selves inclined  to  do  what  they  are  forbidden  to  do. 

I  do  not,  however,  forbid  you  to  make  use  of  threatenings 
as  well  as  reproofs;  for  the  fear  of  your  displeasure  is  neces- 
sary to  check  their  corrupt  propensities;  and  it  is  easier  to 
make  them  sensible  of  the  danger  they  may  incur  from  your 
displeasure,  than  of  the  baseness  of  their  conduct,  or  of  the 
danger  of  punishment  from  God.  But  join  both  together, 
that  they  may  be  taught  to  hate  sin  as  well  as  punishment;  to 
fear  God,  as  well  as  to  fear  their  parents.  And  take  care  to 
threaten  no  punishment  for  their  faults  but  what  you  seriously 
mean  to  inflict,  and  what  you  are  warranted  to  inflict.     Don't 


3GS  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON   II. 

tell  them  that  you  will  break  their  heads,  or  that  you  will  cut 
out  their  ears,  if  they  again  offend  you.  If  they  believe  such 
threatenings,  they  will  dread  you  as  they  would  do  a  wild 
beast;  and  when  they  find  that  you  do  not  execute  these 
threatenings,  they  learn  from  you  to  lie.  With  what  face  will 
you  ever  punish  them  for  lying,  if  you  have  taught  them,  by 
your  example,  to  speak  things  that  are  contrary  to  their  de- 
signs, or  their  thoughts? 

But,  if  you  have  threatened  only  such  punishment  as  you 
are  warranted  to  inflict,  let  them  never  have  cause  to  think, 
that  your  reproofs  and  threatenings  are  but  morning-clouds 
which  pass  away,  and  leave  no  trace  behind.  Chastise  them 
with  all  that  severity  which  you  have  given  them  reason  to 
expect,  that  they  may  not  secretly  laugh  at  your  great  swell- 
ing words  of  vanity,  and  set  at  nought  all  your  future  reproofs. 
What  would  you  think  of  a  country  that  enjoyed  the  best  of 
laws  for  checking  vice,  whilst  they  were  seldom  or  never  exe- 
cuted? If  you  were  born  in  such  a  country,  you  would  be 
compelled,  by  the  abounding  of  wickedness  and  violence,  to 
exchange  your  native  country  for  a  place  of  voluntary  exile. 
And  you  will  soon  find  your  own  house  a  habitation  no  less 
uncomfortable,  however  sharply  you  threaten,  if  you  never 
proceed  to  punish.  It  may  be  said  of  most  children  (though 
not  all),  as  Solomon  says  of  servants,  that  they  will  not  be 
corrected  by  words;  for  though  they  hear,  they  will  not  answer. 

I  know  there  are  many  parents  who  are  sufl&ciently  forward 
with  their  reproofs  and  threatenings ;  but  if  their  children  will 
not  be  reclaimed  by  words,  they  cannot  proceed  any  farther. 
The  rod  of  correction  would  give  ten  times  more  pain  to  them- 
selves than  to  their  children.  They  will  use  reproof  as  well 
as  instruction,  to  give  wisdom  to  their  little  ones ;  but  if  the 
rod,  too,  is  necessary  for  the  purpose,  they  will  suffer  them  to 
die  fools. 

But,  consider  attentively  what  Solomon  says  to  you  on  this 
subject:  Bring  forth  your  strong  arguments,  and  he  well  soon 
put  you  to  silence. 

You  will  not  use  the  rod  to  give  your  children  wisdom; 
but  if  you  do  not,  you  are  cruel  both  to  your  children  and  to 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  3^9 

yourselves.  You  are  cruel  to  their  mother  that  bare  them. 
You  are  rebellious  against  God,  who  vouchsafes,  by  Solomon, 
to  give  you,  not  one,  but  many  directions  concerning  the  cor- 
rection of  your  children;  and  who  tells  you,  in  plain  terms, 
that  ^the  rod  and  reproof  give  wisdom,  but  a  child  left  to  him- 
self bringeth  his  mother  to  shame;'  Prov.  xxix.  15. 

You  feel  the  blows  of  the  rod  so  sensibly  on  your  own 
bowels,  that  you  cannot  make  use  of  it.  But  Solomon  assures 
you  from  God,  that  your  pleasure  will  greatly  overbalance 
your  pain.  Your  grief  must  be  lasting  and  incurable,  if, 
through  the  neglect  of  any  needful  part  of  discipline,  that 
foolishness  which  is  bound  up  in  the  hearts  of  your  children 
is  suffered  to  remain.  But,  ^correct  thy  son,  and  he  shall 
give  thee  rest;  yea,  he  shall  give  delight  to  thy  soul;'  Prov. 
xxix.  17. 

You  love  your  children,  and  therefore  you  cannot  bear  the 
thought  of  making  them  uneasy.  But,  if  you  really  love  your 
children  with  an  affection  that  becomes  either  a  saint  or  a  man, 
you  will  not  scruple  to  give  them  those  pains  which  are  re- 
quisite for  their  welfare.  Will  you  not,  if  they  break  their 
legs  by  a  fall,  compel  them  to  submit  to  all  that  uneasiness 
which  is  necessary  to  restore  them  the  use  of  their  legs?  If 
they  are  sick,  will  you  not  oblige  them  to  swallow  those  bitter 
drugs  which  are  necessary  for  the  restoration  of  their  health? 
Confess  that  you  are  more  solicitous  about  the  health  of  their 
bodies,  than  the  welfare  of  their  souls,  if  you  will  not  correct 
them  when  they  do  amiss ;  and  that  your  love  to  them  is  of 
that  wretched  kind,  which,  in  the  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
is  rather  to  be  called  hatred  than  love ;  for  ^  he  that  spareth 
the  rod  hateth  his  child ;  but  he  that  loveth  him  chasteneth 
him  betimes.' — *He  thati^pareth  the  rod  hateth  his  child.'  I 
do  not  deny  that  this  language  is  figurative ;  but  it  is  just,  it  is 
expressive,  it  is  striking.  It  contains  a  just  and  much-needed 
admonition  respecting  that  love  which  all  parents  ought  to 
bear,  and  every  wise  parent  will  bear,  to  his  children.  And 
if  any  man  should  choose  to  understand  the  expression  liter- 
ally, his  mistake  will  only  be  about  the  meaning  of  the  ex- 
pression. The  sentiment  will  be  just,  which  the  expression, 
24 


370  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

in  this  sense,  conveys.  A  child  left  to  himself  will  very  pro- 
bably become  odious,  even  in  the  eyes  of  his  parents,  by  be- 
liaving  so  ill  as  to  compel  them  to  hate  him,  although  they 
were  most  powerfully  prompted  by  the  instincts  of  nature  to 
love  him. 

Do  you  allege,  that  you  may  possibly  procure  to  yourselves 
the  hatred  of  your  children,  by  reproving  and  correcting  them? 
You  are  much  more  likely  to  procure  it  by  a  criminal  indul- 
gence of  their  follies:  ^He  that  maketh  too  much  of  his  son 
shall  bind  up  his  wounds,  and  his  bowels  will  be  troubled  at 
every  cry.  A  horse  not  broken  becometh  headstrong,  and  a 
child  left  to  himself  will  be  wilful.  Cocker  thy  child,  and  he 
shall  make  thee  afraid:  play  with  him,  and  he  will  bring  thee 
to  heaviness.  Laugh  not  with  him,  lest  thou  have  sorrow 
with  him,  and  lest  thou  gnash  thy  teeth  in  the  end.  Give 
him  no  liberty  in  his  youth  (that  is,  no  licentious  liberty),  and 
wink  not  at  his  follies.  Bow  down  his  neck  while  he  is  young, 
and  beat  him  on  the  sides  while  he  is  a  child,  lest  he  wax 
stubborn,  and  be  disobedient  unto  thee,  and  so  bring  sorrow 
to  thine  heart.  Chastise  thy  son,  and  hold  him  to  labour,  lest 
his  lewd  behaviour  be  an  offense  unto  thee ;'  Ecclus.  xxx.  7- 
13.  These  words  are  not  Solomon's,  but  they  are  the  words 
of  a  venerable  Jewish  sage,  who  had  learned  much  from  Solo- 
mon, and  from  his  observation  of  human  life.  And  they  agree 
with  Solomon's  doctrine:  ^He  that  reproveth  a  man,  shall 
afterwards  find  more  favour  than  he  that  flattereth  him  with 
his  lips.     Chastise  thy  son,  and  thou  shalt  have  joy  of  him.' 

But  what  if  I  should  kill  him,  or  crush  his  spirit? — Why 
are  you  afraid  of  such  consequences  as  these?  It  is  not  the 
sword,  but  the  rod,  that  is  recommended  to  you,  and  you  are 
wnunanded  to  use  it  with  the  wisdom  of  a  man,  with  the  af- 
fection of  a  father:  'With-hold  not  correction  from  thy  child; 
for  if  thou  beat€st  him  with  the  rod,  he  shall  not  die.'  He 
shall  live.  The  rod  is  a  preservative  from  death,  and  from 
what  is  a  thousand  times  worse  than  death:  ^Thou  shalt  beat 
him  with  the  rod,  and  shalt  deliver  his  soul  from  hell.'  You 
have  perhaps  heard  the  story  of  a  young  man  led  to  the  gal- 
lows, who  said,  'It  is  not  the  judge,  it  is  my  mother,  that  han 


SERMON   II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREX.  371 

brought  me  to  this  shameful  end/  The  same  thini^  might 
have  been  said  by  many  of  those  who  have  suffered  for  tlieir 
crimes.  And  those  who  are  hanged  for  their  crimes  are  iar 
from  being  the  one-half  of  those  that  come  to  a  miserable  and 
untimely  end  by  the  fault  of  their  parents,  in  the  neglect  of 
needful  discipline. 

3.  Parents  must  bring  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  tlw  Lord,  by  setting  them  a  good  example. 

Example  has  a  mighty  influence  upon  full-grown  men. 
Peter's  example  at  Antioch  had  a  kind  of  compulsory  influ- 
ence upon  the  minds  of  the  Jewish  disciples.  They  knew  that 
Peter  was  a  wiser  man  than  themselves;  and  when  they  saw 
that  he  would  not  eat  with  the  Gentiles,  *  Surely,'  said  they 
within  themselves,  Hhe  mind  of  the  Lord  is  with  him ;'  it  must 
be  sinful  to  eat  with  the  Gentiles;  at  least,  it  must  be  safest, 
if  the  case  is  doubtful,  to  do  as  this  great  apostle  does.  Thus, 
a  disingenuous  bigotry,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  church, 
would  soon  have  taken  deep  root  at  Antioch,  and  that  city, 
which  gave  birth  to  the  Christian  name,  might  have  become 
the  beginning  of  one  of  the  most  Antichristian  iniquities,  if 
Paul,  through  divine  mercy,  had  not  been  strengthened  to 
plead  the  cause  of  Christian  liberty,  against  the  man  to  whom, 
perhaps,  of  all  others,  he  paid  the  greatest  deference. 

What  Peter  was  to  Barnabas,  and  to  others  that '  were  carried 
away  by  his  dissimulation,'  you  are  to  your  children,  if  they 
possess  the  modesty  which  belongs  to  their  age,  and  feel  that 
affection  which  becomes  their  relation  to  those  who  gave  them 
birth.  Although  you  are  far  from  equalling  Peter,  yet  your 
children  probably  pay  you  as  much  deference  as  Barnabas  paid 
to  Peter,  and  will  be  as  ready  to  follow  your  example,  and  to 
think  that  they  do  well  in  following  it.  Have  you  not  heard 
that  the  children  of  Mahometans,  for  the  most  part,  follow  the 
doctrines  of  Mahomet;  that  the  children  of  Papists  worship 
saints  and  angels;  that  the  heathen  nations  worship  the  gods 
of  their  fathers,  and  would  reckon  it  shameful  to  abandon  that 
religion  which  has  been  transmitted  to  them  from  many  gen- 
erations of  ancestors?  Do  you  not  observe,  that,  for  the  most 
part,  the  children  of  men  who  make  no  pretensions  to  religion 


372  THE   DUTY   OF    PARENTS  [SEEMOX  IT. 

are  equally  indifferent  to  it  with  their  parents;  and  that  those 
who  have  the  happiness  to  be  born  of  religious  parents  appear 
to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers ;  or,  if  they  do  not, 
are  despised  by  those  who  are  no  better  than  themselves,  ex- 
cept that  they  are  less  inexcusable,  because  they  did  not  enjoy 
the  same  advantage  of  religious  education? 

Solomon's  words  are  all  true.  They  are  the  faithful  say- 
ings of  God,  however  little  some  regard  them  in  their  practice; 
and  who  is  ignorant  of  the  earnestness  with  which  he  warns 
young  persons  against  the  company  of  bad  men  and  bad  wo- 
men ?  Parents  who  deserve  the  name,  will  endeavour  to  pre- 
serve their  children  from  that  pestilence  of  bad  example,  which 
has  been  the  destruction  of  so  many  millions  of  our  race.  But 
what  are  we  to  think  of  those  parents  who  are  themselves  the 
corrupters  of  their  children,  by  the  practice  of  those  vices 
whicli  cannot  but  bring  the  wrath  of  God  upon  all  that  prac- 
tise them?  Do  they  deserve  the  honourable  name  of  parents? 
Is  the  life  which  they  have  given  to  their  children  sufficient  to 
counterbalance  that  eternal  death  to  which  they  expose  them? 
Will  not  many  children  of  Christian  parents  wish  at  the  last, 
that  their  fathers  had  buried  them  alive,  rather  than  trained 
them  up  in  the  service  of  the  devil,  whose  wages  are  ever- 
lasting burnings?  Are  not  godless  parents  bringing  up  their 
children  to  the  great  murderer  of  our  race?  Is  not  that  death 
to  which  they  are  exposing  them,  by  their  pernicious  example, 
a  thousand  times  more  dreadful  than  to  be  buried  alive  before 
they  are  capable  of  doing  good  or  evil;  before  they  are  capa- 
ble of  adding  any  actual  transgressions  to  that  sin  which 
they  bring  into  the  world? 

No  sentence  of  a  heathen  writer  hath  come  more  frequently 
into  my  mind  than  one  of  a  Roman  poet,  who  says,  that  'the 
greatest  reverence  is  due  to  a  child.'  We  must  cast  no  stum- 
bling-blocks, or  occasions  to  fall,  in  the  way  of  any  of  our 
})reihren  of  the  human  race,  but  least  of  all  in  the  way  of 
children;  because  they  are  most  likely  to  be  hurt,  perhaps  ruined 
by  them.  How  do  they  learn  most  of  the  things  which  they 
learn,  but  by  imitation  ?  Nature,  or  rather  the  God  of  nature, 
has  wisely  appointed  this  to  be  the  way  of  learning  most  of 


SERMON  II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  373 

those  things  which  are  necessary  for  the  support  and  comfort 
of  the  present  life.  Without  this  principle  of  imitation,  we 
would  grow  up  more  rude  and  uncultivated  than  the  Hotten- 
tots. But  do  not  turn  this  principle  into  an  instrument  of 
destruction  to  their  souls.  If  you  will  needs  be  wicked,  be 
wicked  by  yourselves,  and  let  no  part  of  your  bad  conduct  ap- 
pear in  the  eyes  of  those  who,  in  all  probability,  will  think 
that  they  do  right  in  following  your  example.  You  will  find 
the  guilt  of  your  own  blood  heavy  enough  to  bear;  why  should 
you  go  to  the  eternal  world  laden  with  the  guilt  of  destroying 
more  souls  than  one? 

Remember  that  young  persons  are  neither  qualified  nor  dis- 
posed to  make  the  distinctions  that  you  may  think  easy  and 
natural.  You  can  distinguish  between  a  lie  and  a  jest,  which, 
in  the  early  part  of  childhood,  they  cannot  do;  and  therefore, 
by  jesting  with  them,  or  in  their  presence,  you  may  teach  them 
to  lie.  Although  evil-speaking,  in  general,  is  sinful,  yet  you 
reckon  it  lawful,  on  some  occasions,  to  speak  of  the  bad  things 
you  have  heard  of  some  of  your  neighbours.  But  by  doing 
this  unguardedly,  you  may  teach  them  to  be  backbiters.  Ab- 
stain from  every  thing  that  has  the  appearance  of  evil,  es- 
pecially before  those  who  have  not  yet  learned  to  distinguish 
between  realities  and  appearances.  If  one  of  your  elder  boys 
should  climb  upon  the  branches  of  a  tree,  you  will  not  be  dis- 
pleased with  him  if  he  does  it  only  in  company  with  boys  of 
the  same  size,  because  they  may  amuse  themselves  with  the 
same  sport  without  danger ;  but  if  he  should  do  the  same  thing 
in  the  presence  of  your  younger  children,  you  will  beat  him 
with  severity,  because  he  has  taught  his  younger  brothers  a 
lesson  that  may  cost  them  a  broken  leg.  If  you  expect  that 
little  boys  should  pay  some  regard  to  the  consequences  of  their 
actions,  w^hat  excuse  remains  for  you,  if  you  do  those  things 
which,  though  innocent  in  themselves,  may,  in  their  conse- 
quences, be  productive  of  eternal  misery  to  persons  whose  sal- 
vation ought  to  be  the  object  of  your  constant  care? 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  for  you  to  set  no  bad  example,  and 
no  example  that  may  prove  bad  in  the  use  that  will  be  made 
of  it  before  your  children.     You  must  not  only  cease  to  do 


374  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

evil,  but  learn  to  do  well,  and  make  your  light  so  to  shine 
before  every  beholder,  and  especially  before  your  own  families, 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven. 

When  you  wish  to  have  your  children  taught  a  profession 
to  be  the  employment  of  their  life,  you  do  not  send  for  a  man 
of  that  profession  to  come  to  your  house,  and  lay  down  and  ex- 
plain all  the  rules  of  it.  You  know,  that  if  he  should  repeat 
these  rules  a  hundred  times,  till  they  were  all  deeply  fixed 
in  your  son's  mind,  very  little  is  gained.  He  must  see  those 
things  done  that  he  is  to  do,  and  by  careful  imitation  learn  to 
do  what  has  been  done  by  his  teacher ;  and,  therefore,  you  bind 
him  to  an  apprenticeship  of  several  years.  Does  not  this  con- 
sideration convince  you  of  the  importance  of  teaching,  by  a 
good  example,  what  is  infinitely  more  important  than  all  arts 
or  sciences  ? 

I  do  not  say,  that  you  are  to  make  a  show  of  your  religion 
before  your  families,  or  before  the  world.  That  would  be 
setting  a  bad,  and  not  a  good  example  before  them.  An  os- 
tentatious piety  cannot  hide  that  folly  and  self-conceit  which 
is  the  principle  of  it.  But  there  are  many  duties  which  are 
public  in  their  nature;  and  if  you  neglect  them,  or  perform 
them  in  a  careless  manner,  you  wrong,  you  greatly  wrong, 
the  souls  of  your  children.  They  have  eyes  in  their  heads, 
and  perhaps  they  see  better  than  you  imagine,  and  can  apply 
the  proverb,  ^Physician,  heal  thyself,'  with  no  less  readiness 
than  yourselves.  When  you  see  preachers  negligent  of  those 
duties  which  they  warmly  recommend,  you  despise  them,  you 
look  ui>on  them  as  the  most  contemptible  of  all  human  beings, 
because  they  affect  airs  of  seriousness  in  the  pulpit,  and  show 
themselves  destitute  of  it  every  where  else.  Will  not  your 
children  think  the  same  of  yourselves,  when  they  often  hear 
you  recommend  prayer,  and  never  hear  you  pray?  when  you 
tell  them,  that  they  must  daily  read  the  Scriptures,  and  never 
take  that  blessed  Book  into  your  hands? 

The  wise  among  the  heathen  nations  were  very  sensible  of 
the  importance  of  being  trained  to  virtue  by  domestic  ex- 
amples.    When  the  Spartans,  subdued  by  Antipater  the  Mace- 


6ERM0N   II.]  TO  THEIR   CHILDREN.  375 

donian,  were  required  to  give  him  a  certain  number  of  their 
children  as  hostages  for  their  good  behaviour,  their  ambassa- 
dors answered,  that  they  would  rather  give  him  double  tlie 
number  of  old  men.  And  when  the  people  in  their  public 
assembly  were  threatened  with  Anti pater's  vengeance,  it'  they 
did  not  comply  with  his  requisition,  they  unanimously  an- 
swered, that  it  was  better  to  die,  than  to  suffer  what  was  worse 
than  death.  Of  such  importance  did  the  whole  city  reckon 
it  to  be  that  their  young  persons  should  be  educated  in  the 
observation  of  the  customs  of  their  fathers,  which  they  preferred 
to  all  others  in  the  world.  Did  they  value  so  highly  that 
mode  of  living  which  they  learned  from  Lycurgus?  What  ex- 
cuse can  be  made  for  us,  if  we  discover  no  anxiety  to  train  up 
our  children  in  the  observation  of  those  holy  practices  which 
we  have  learned  from  Christ? 

'In  all  things  that  I  have  commanded  you,'  says  God,  'be 
circumspect.'  All  Christians  ought  to  be  careful  that  they 
transgress  not  the  least  of  the  commandments  of  Christ.  But 
parents  ought  to  be  doubly  circumspect,  lest,  by  some  unde- 
signed omission  of  duty,  or  some  inconsiderate  action  of  life, 
they  hurt  the  interest  of  religion  in  their  families  for  genera- 
tions to  come.  There  were  many  good  kings  of  David's  family 
who  were  much  inferior  to  David  their  father,  because  they 
neglected  one  thing  which  probably  appeared  to  them  to  be  of 
such  inferior  importance  to  other  parts  of  duty,  that  they  did 
not  greatly  attend  to  it;  and  when  the  more  ancient  of  them, 
who  deservedly  obtained  a  good  report,  did  not  attend  to  it, 
his  descendants  would  think  themselves  happy  when  they 
walked  in  his  steps,  without  proceeding  any  farther  in  the  re- 
formation of  the  people.  You  will  probably  guess  that  I  have 
in  view  that  defect  in  the  character  of  Asa,  and  many  of  his 
successors,  that  they  did  not  remove  the  high  places,  where 
the  true  God  was  worshipped,  though  not  agreeably  to  his  own 
appointment.  Asa  was  the  first  of  Solomon's  successors  who 
walked  in  the  ways  of  David  and  Solomon.  His  heart  was 
perfect  all  his  days,  but  he  did  not  remove  the  high  places. 
Jehoshaphat  was  an  eminent  saint,  and  yet  he  did  not  reckon 
it  necessary  to  do  what  his  good  father  Asa  had  not  done. 


376  THE  DUTY   OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  11* 

The  following  kings,  for  several  generations,  were  either  wicked 
men,  or  were  far  inferior  to  these  two  princes  in  piety;  and 
the  high  places  kept  their  ground,  till  a  man  arose  to  bless 
Judah,  who  was  not  inferior  to  David  himself,  and  who  was 
too  wise  to  pay  any  regard  to  what  either  Asa  or  Jehoshaphat 
did,  unless  he  found  it  agreeable  to  the  law  of  Moses.  Heze- 
kiah  was  a  second  David ;  and  although  his  son  and  grandson 
were  wicked,  the  third  in  descent  from  him,  Josiah  by  name, 
trod  in  his  steps,  and  like  these  two  men  there  was  no  king  in 
Judah,  before  or  after  them. 

The  wise  and  good  should  endeavour,  for  the  sake  of  their 
children,  as  well  as  for  their  own  sake,  to  be  wise  and  good  in 
every  thing.  Solomon  was  the  wisest  of  men,  but  he  was  un- 
wise in  multiplying  wives,  and  in  multiplying  horses:  and  we 
find,  that  his  two  next  successors  took  many  wives,  and  that 
all  his  successors  made  more  use  of  horses  than  the  law  of 
Moses  allowed,  till  that  King  of  Zion  appeared,  who  came 
^riding  into  Jerusalem  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt,  the  foal 
of  an  ass.' 

Abraham  was  wise  and  good  beyond  most  men  that  ever 
lived.  -There  are,  however,  two  things  in  his  conduct  that  do 
not  merit  imitation  :  his  marrying  Hagar,  and  his  dissimula- 
tion about  Sarah.  The  first  of  these  was  not  likely  to  mislead 
Isaac;  he  knew  too  well  what  it  was  to  have  an  Ishmael  for 
a  brother,  and  a  Hagar  for  a  stepmother  and  a  rival  to  his 
true  mother,  to  bring  a  Hagar  or  an  Ishmael  into  his  own 
family.  But  in  the  other  blameable,  or  suspicious  instance 
of  his  father's  behaviour,  he  made  no  scruple  of  following  him. 
What  Abraham  did  in  Egypt,  and  in  Gerar,  Isaac  made  no 
scruple  of  doing  at  Gerar.  What  Abraham  did,  not  once,  but 
twice,  Isaac  might  think  could  scarcely  be  wrong. 

Perhaps  you  may  think,  that  the  instances  I  have  produced, 
instead  of  being  warnings  against  uncircumspection  of  conduct, 
are  rather  apologies  for  your  defects.  You  cannot  hope  to  be 
better  men  than  Abraham,  and  therefore  you  deserve  little 
blame  if  your  conduct  deserves  as  little  reprehension  as  his. 
But  have  you  Abraliam's  virtues  to  set  against  his  defects?  or, 
have  you  the  same  excuses  for  the  defects  of  your  conduct  that 


SERMON  II.]  TO  THEIR   CHILDREN.  377 

Abraham  had,  who  enjoyed  but  a  very  small  part  of  that  re- 
velation of  the  will  of  God  which  you  enjoy,  and  whose  tempta- 
tions were  a  thousand  times  harder  to  be  overcome  than  yours? 
But  remember,  besides,  that  if  you  live  uncircumspcctly  be- 
cause Abraham  erred  twice  or  thrice  in  his  conduct,  you  can 
have  no  pretense  to  say  that  you  walk  in  the  steps  of  Abraham. 
He  did  not  walk  uncircumspcctly.  The  strictest  Christians 
amongst  us  are  chargeable  with  more  defects  in  conduct  than 
Abraham.  If  you  will  not  take  good  heed  to  your  ways,  your 
errors  in  conduct  will  be  perhaps  every  day  more  numerous,  or 
worse  than  the  errors  of  his  whole  life  after  he  attained  to  the 
knowledge  of  God.  When  you  have  done  all  that  you  can  to 
guard  against  offensive  conduct,  you  will  not  be  more  free  from 
blemishes  than  the  holy  men  of  ancient  days. 

Remember  also,  that  the  good  men  of  ancient  davs  were  far 
from  approving  of  those  evil  things  which,  through  the  over- 
powering force  of  temptation,  they  sometimes  did.  No  saint 
spoken  of  in  the  Bible  gave  more  offense  by  some  parts  of  his 
conduct,  than  Solomon;  but  none  could  be  more  sensible  than 
Solomon,  after  he  repented,  of  the  mischief  which  may  follow 
single  instances  of  misconduct  in  the  wise  and  good.  There 
is  a  warning  in  the  last  of  his  books,  which,  if  men  would 
attend  to  it,  might  do  more  good  than  ever  the  example  of  his 
irregularities  did  hurt:  ^Dead  flies  cause  the  ointment  of  the 
apothecary  to  send  forth  a  stinking  savour;  so  doth  a  little  folly 
him  that  is  in  reputation  for  wisdom  and  honour';  Eccl.  x.  i. 

T  have  spoken  of  what  parents  ought,  in  their  own  persons, 
to  do  for  bringing  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord.  But  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  most 
fathers  can  do  every  thing  needful  to  be  done  for  this  purpose. 
Children  arc  commonly  sent  to  school,  where  they  ought  to 
receive  instruction  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing; and  parents,  if  they  have  the  opportunity  of  making  a 
choice,  ought  to  give  a  preference  to  those  schools  where  their 
children  are  likelj^  to  be  best  educated,  by  instruction  and  ex- 
ample, in  the  knowledge  of  religion,  and  in  the  practice  of 
virtue.  If  we  have  horses  to  be  trained  up  for  riding,  we  put 
them  into  the  hands  of  those  men  who  are  most  likely  to  bi-eak 


378  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SEEMON   I). 

them  to  the  saddle,  and  to  cure  them  of  every  vicious  habit. 
If  we  have  ground  to  cultivate,  we  employ  such  servants  as  are 
best  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  plough,  and  in  every  part  of  hus- 
bandry ;  and  we  do  not  grudge  the  best  wages  to  those  who 
are  likeliest  to  give  us  satisfaction  by  their  work.  If  we  are 
less  careful  to  find  proper  teachers  for  our  children,  we  deserve 
the  reproof  which  the  philosopher  Crates  gave  to  the  Athenians, 
'O  ye  Athenians!  why  are  ye  so  careful  to  provide  estates  for 
your  children,  and  so  careless  about  providing  children  for 
your  estates?' 

There  is  a  complaint  among  some  parents,  that  schoolmas- 
ters are  not  so  careful  as  they  have  been  in  some  former  times, 
to  teach  their  pupils  the  principles  of  religion.  The  com- 
plaint, I  am  afraid,  is  just:  but  parents  ought  to  leave  a  part 
of  it  on  themselves.  Schoolmasters,  I  think,  would  be  more 
careful  of  this  part  of  their  duty,  if  the  parents  of  their  pupils 
would  roundly  inform  them  that  the  neglect  of  it  is  very  dis- 
agreeable to  them.  When  we  think  we  have  reason  to  com- 
plain of  our  neighbours,  let  us  complain  first  of  all  to  them- 
selves. Perhaps  they  will  reform  their  conduct,  and  leave  us 
no  reason  to  complain  to  others.  If  they  do  not,  we  will  com- 
plain to  others  with  a  better  grace.* 

Sabbath-schools  are  now  set  up  in  many  parts  of  our  land. 
These,  it  is  to  hoped,  will  be  an  excellent  help  to  those  parents 
who  desire  to  educate  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God ;  for 
emulation  will  prompt  children  to  learn  those  things  with 

*  See  Note  on  p.  354  of  this  edition.  These  observations  of  the  author 
should  suggest  to  Christian  parents  the  importance  of  their  using  their  ut- 
most exertions  to  have  pious  Common  school  teachers  appointed  in  their 
School  District;  and  to  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  the  duty  of  exerting  their 
influence  to  that  end:  and  to  see  to  it  that  religious  instruction  form  an 
esdcntial  part  of  the  instruction  received  in  the  Common  School.  Es- 
pecially should  they  exert  themselves  to  have  religious  as  well  as  well- 
informed  and  intelligent  School  Directors  elected  (among  whom  there 
Hhould  always  be  one  or  more  godly  Ministers) ;  who  will  take  a  deep 
interest  in  securing  that  our  youth  be  educated  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

When  this  cannot  be  obtained  in  the  Common  Schools,  it  should  be 
a  serious  consideration  with  parents  whether  these  important  benefits 
might  not  be  secured  for  their  children  in  private  schools.— Ed. 


SERMON    II.]  TO   THEIR   CHILDREN.  879 

alacrity,  which  they  will  not  easily  be  induced  to  learii  witli- 
out  companions.  Fathers,  therefore,  it  may  be  presiimed,  will 
encourage  them,  from  a  regard  to  the  welfare  of  their  own 
children,  as  well  as  to  the  welfare  of  the  rising  generation  in 
general.  And  if  any  parents  are  too  negligent  to  bestow  all 
that  care  which  is  requisite  for  the  instruction  of  their  own 
families,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  they  will  at  least  take  the 
trouble  of  sending  them  to  places  where  they  may  be  taught 
without  any  expense  to  themselves.  There  are  some  parents 
whom  poverty  may  excuse  for  not  employing  physicians  to  cure 
the  diseases  of  their  children;  but  no  excuse  could  be  made 
for  them,  if  they  refused  to  employ  a  physician  who  under- 
took to  cure  their  children  without  reward.  Instruction  is  as 
necessary  to  the  mind  of  a  child,  as  medicine  to  his  body  in  a 
fever;  and  so  much  the  more  necessary,  that  there  is  not  the 
same  natural  vigour  in  the  mind,  as  there  often  is  in  the  body, 
to  expel  disease  without  the  application  of  means. 

But  nothing  is  more  necessary  for  bringing  up  children  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  than  fervent  j)rayer  to 
God,  for  his  blessing  upon  all  the  means  used  for  this  purpose. 
The  endeavours  of  parents  must  be  as  ineffectual  as  the  en- 
deavours of  ministers,  to  communicate  good  impressions,  with- 
out divine  influence;  and  yet  all  will  acknowledge,  that  those 
preachers  are  unworthy  of  the  pulpit,  who  do  not  accompany 
their  public  ministrations  with  the  fervent  devotions  of  the 
closet.  Melancthon,  that  great  reformer,  when  he  was  yet  a  . 
young  man,  and  not  acquainted  by  experience  with  the  per- 
versencss  of  mankind,  flattered  himself  with  the  hope,  tiiat 
men  would  find  it  impossible  to  resist  the  force  of  those  truths 
which  he  was  able  to  represent  to  their  minds;  but  he  soon 
found,  when  he  proceeded  to  the  trial,  that  'old  Adam  was  too 
strong  for  young  Melancthon.'  And  old  Adam  is  strong  in 
the  youngest  of  his  off*-spring.  The  wise  man  speaks  of  young 
persons  who,  with  bitter  remorse,  will  be  compelled  to  say  at 
the  last,  'How  have  I  hated  instruction,  and  my  heart  despised 
reproof,  and  have  not  obeyed  the  voice  of  my  teachers,  nor 
inclined  mine  ear  to  them  that  instructed  me!' 

There  are,  indeed,  several  proverbs  of  Solomon  which  give 


^gO  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  II. 

US  groiincl  to  hope,  that  good  and  seasonable  instruction  will 
have  the  desired  effect.  These  passages  are  proverbs,  not  di- 
rect promises.  They  express  what  is  generally  found  by  ex- 
perience to  be  the  case ;  not  what  will  always  be  the  case. 
They  are  not,  however,  to  be  considered  as  words  of  human 
wisdom.  They  are  proverbs  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  imply  a  promise  in  them,  to  be  understood  with  the  same 
limitations  as  many  other  promises  in  the  Bible.  God  does 
not  intend  by  them  to  limit  his  own  sovereignty,  by  bringing 
himself  under  obligations  to  communicate  saving  grace  as  an 
hereditary  right  to  the  children  of  the  faithful,  any  more  than 
he  binds  himself  by  the  promises  of*success  to  faithful  minis- 
ters, to  convert,  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  all  their  hearers; 
1  Tim.  iv.  16.  Parents,  therefore,  must  not  trust  to  the  best 
means  they  can  use  for  promoting  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their 
children.  Sensible  of  their  own  unfitness  to  perform  any  use- 
ful service  to  God  without  help  from  above,  they  must  pray 
for  that  wisdom  and  fervency  of  spirit  w^hich  is  necessary  for 
themselves,  that  they  may  perform  the  important  duties  of  a 
parent,  in  a  manner  acceptable  to  God,  and  useful  to  their 
children.  Sensible  of  the  power  of  that  corruption  which 
dsvells  in  the  hearts  of  their  children,  and  of  the  absolute 
sovereignty  of  divine  grace,  they  must  pray  for  a  divine  bless- 
ing on  the  instructions,  admonitions,  and  corrections,  which 
they  dispense  to  them.  The  use  which  they  ought  to  make  of 
the  promises  of  success  to  their  endeavours,  is  to  encourage 
them  in  praying  to  the  Father  of  lights,  the  God  of  all  gra<?e, 
that  he  would  verify  his  words,  and  fulfil  the  delightful  hopes 
which  they  are  fitted  to  inspire.  If  you  ask  a  blessing  on 
your  cliildren's  food,  as  well  as  your  own,  because  you  know 
that  God  only  can  give  a  nutritive  virtue  to  our  bodily  pro- 
visions; is  it  not  equally  necessary  to  solicit  his  blessing  on 
their  spiritual  provision  ?  If,  when  you  call  the  physician  to 
:il)ply  remedies  to  their  distempers,  you  would  reckon  it  pre- 
sumptuous to  'seek  to  the  physician,  and  not  unto  the  Lord'; 
is  it  not  equally  blamable  to  expect  any  benefit  from  the  means 
you  use  to  heal  the  distempers  of  their  souls,  without  fervent 
applications  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  a  blessing  on  these  means? 


SERMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  381 


SERMON  III. 


THE  DUTY  OF  PAEENTS  TO  THEIE  CHILDREN. 

EPHESIANS  VI.  4. 

And,  ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath;  but  bring 
them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

III. — I  now  proceed  to  consider  with  what  propriety  the 
apostle  conjoins,  in  our  text,  the  caution  against  provoking 
your  children  to  wrath,  with  the  command  to  bring  them  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  tlie  Lord. 

1.  Love  to  parents  is  an  essential  part  of  that  religion  in  which 
they  are  to  be  educated;  and,  therefore,  parents  should  do  nothing 
thai  may  be  expected  to  alienate  the  affections  of  their  children. 

You  know  very  well  that  it  is  your  duty  to  love  your  \vives; 
and  yet  if  your  wives  are  every  day  teaziug  and  disquieting 
you  wdth  clamour,  contradiction,  reflections,  and  sullen  be- 
haviour, you  find  it  almost,  if  not  altogether,  impossible  to 
love  them.  Although  your  consciences  tell  you  that  it  is  your 
duty,  although  common  sense  teaches  you  that  it  is  your  in- 
terest, although  the  gospel  suggests  motives  of  infinite  strength 
to  enforce  the  duty ;  yet  you  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  re- 
frain from  hating  them,  and  wishing  that  their  tongue  were 
silenced  for  ever  by  an  incurable  palsy.  How,  then,  do  you 
imagine  that  your  children  will  love  yourselves  if  you  hold 
them  in  constant  uneasiness,  by  a  severe  and  stern  behaviour? 
Can  you  reasonably  hope  that,  at  their  years,  they  will  behave 
more  wisely,  or  feel  the  power  of  conscience  more  forcibly,  or 
make  a  better  use  of  the  motives  of  the  gospel  enforcing  obe- 
dience, than  yourselves  might  be  expected  to  do  in  a  similar 
case? 


382  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERSfON  III. 

Many  parents  complain  of  the  disregard  shown  them  by  their 
children.  Children  are  exceedingly  blamable,  when  they  give 
just  occasion  for  such  complaints.  But  parents,  in  many  cases, 
deserve  a  share  and  a  double  share,  of  the  blame.  They  are 
Satan's  agents  in  tempting  their  children  to  hate  themselves, 
by  a  behaviour  naturally  calculated  to  inspire  aversion. 

Now,  if  you  tempt  your  children  to  hate  their  own  parents, 
how  can  you  teach  them  that  religion  which  is  summed  up 
in  the  love  of  God  and  man?  'If  a  man  say,  that  he  loves 
God,  whom  he  hath  not  seen,  and  hates  his  brother,  whom  he 
hath  seen,  he  is  a  liar';  and  whom  shall  a  man  love  if  he  love 
not  his  own  parents,  who  are,  under  God,  the  instruments  of 
his  being? 

2.  Parents  ought  to  avoid  all  tJiat  behaviour  lohich  may  excite 
disaffection  in  their  children,  tJmt  their  instructions  and  admoni- 
tions may  be  received  with  pleasure. 

Young  persons  will  learn  nothing,  unless  they  taste  some 
pleasure  in  what  they  endeavour  to  learn;  and  they  are  very 
unlikely  to  take  any  pleasure  in  instruction  when  it  begins  to 
be  communicated  to  them,  if  they  feel  an  aversion  to  the  per- 
sons of  their  instructors.  They  cannot  be  expected  to  know 
and  relish  the  pleasures  of  what  they  learn,  till  they  make 
some  advances  in  knowledge,  and  feel,  in  some  degree,  the  en- 
ergy of  truth;  Prov.  ii.  10,  11» 

Before  the  trouble  of  learning  is  sweetened  by  this  experi- 
ence, they  must  be  allured  by  the  kindness  of  their  instructors; 
and  even  after  religious  knowledge  is  become  in  some  degree 
pleasant,  the  remaining  toil  of  learning,  and  the  pain  that  at- 
tends necessary  admonitions  and  corrections,  must  be  qualified 
by  that  love  to  their  teachers  which  kind  usage  cherishes,  and 
which  unnecessary  rigour  tends  to  destroy.  Scripture  tells  us, 
that  we  ought  to  esteem  very  highly  in  love,  those  who  are 
over  us,  and  admonish  us.  For  what  reason?  That  with 
pleasure  we  may  drink  in  their  intructions  and  admonitions. 
For  this  reason,  public  teachers  ought  to  behave  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  gain,  if  |)ossible,  the  love  of  those  whom  the)- 
are  appointed  to  teach.  Such  was  Paul's  behaviour.  No  man 
valued  human  applause  less  than  Paul,  'for  if  I  should  vet 


SERMON  III.]  TO  THEIH  CHILDREN.  383 

please  men/  says  he,  *I  should  not  be  the  servant  of  Christ/ 
yet  no  man  was  more  careful,  by  a  meek  and  gentle  behaviour, 
to  gain  the  attachment  of  those  whom  he  taught.  ^  We  were 
gentle  among  you,'  says  he  to  the  Thessalonians,  ^cven  as  a 
nurse  cheribheth  her  chi  idren.  So,  being  affectionately  desirous 
of  you,  we  were  willing  to  have  imparted  unto  you,  not  the 
gospel  of  God  only,  but  our  own  souls  also,  because  ye  were 
dear  unto  us.'  And  again,  ^  You  know  how  we  exhorted,  and 
comforted,  and  charged  every  one  of  you,  as  a  father  doth  his 
children.'  The  blessed  apostle  could  find  no  happier  illustra- 
tion of  that  gentleness  and  kindness  which  he  showed  to  his 
beloved  hearers,  than  the  gentleness  of  a  nurse  in  cherishin"* 
the  tender  babe  committed  to  her  care;  or  the  tenderness  with 
which  a  fether  exhorts,  and  comforts,  and  charges  his  son:  as 
if  that  man  were  not  a  father,  but  an  alien,  or  an  enemy,  who 
deals  harshly  with  his  children. 

If  even  full-grown  men  must  b-e  treated  with  mildness  by 
their  teachers  and  rulers,  that  they  may  receive  instruction, 
and  submit  with  cheerfulness  to  lawful  authority,  how  much 
more  is  this  gentle  treatment  necessary  for  children,  who  are 
less  able  to  understand  the  advantage  of  instruction  and  gov- 
ernment? If  those  who  are  parents  in  a  figurative  sense  only, 
ought  to  treat  their  children  with  kindness,  may  it  not  be  ex- 
pected still  more  from  those  who  are  parents  in  the  literal 
sense;  from  those  who  are  parents,  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in 
the  Lord ;  from  those  to  whom  kind  behaviour  is  so  natural, 
and  from  whom  it  is  so  ordinarily  to  be  expected,  that  other 
relations  to  whom  authority  belongs  are  called  fathers,  to  ex- 
press the  kind  regard  which  they  ought  to  bear  towards  those 
who  are  under  their  authority? 

3.  Parents  are  to  teach  tlieir  okildren  by  example,  as  loell  as  by 
their  words. — Now,  that  mildness  of  behaviour  which  the  apostle 
recommends,  is  one  distinguishing  part  of  that  Christian  con- 
duct which  they  ought  to  recommend  by  their  example;  be- 
cause it  must  be  visible  to  the  eye  of  every  beholder. 

There  are  many  of  the  most  essential  parts  of  religion  which 
are  secret  in  their  nature,  and  cannot  be  made  public  without 
the  appearance  of  affectation.     Many  are  the  aspirations  of  the 


384  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMOX  III. 

Christian  after  God,  which  none  can  witness.  Many  are  the 
charities  dispensed  by  an  affluent  Christian,  with  such  secrecy, 
that  his  left  hand  scarcely  knows  what  his  right  hand  doth. 
The  Christian  feels  bitter  pangs  for  his  sins,  which  no  eye  but 
the  eye  that  sees  all  things  can  discern.  To  proclaim  such  acts 
of  religion  would  not  exhibit  a  good  example.  It  would  dis- 
cover a  vain  and  ostentatious  temper  of  mind,  as  remote  from 
the  spirit  of  religion  as  pride  is  from  humility.  But  there  are 
good  works  which  cannot  be  hid  where  they  exist,  and,  by  care 
to  excel  in  them,  we  must  make  our  light  to  shine  before  men. 
'Whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  if  there  be  any  praise,  we  must 
think  on  these  things,'  and  practise  them  before  the  world,  and 
in  pgLTticular  before  our  families,  that  they  may  glorify  God, 
by  walking  in  our  steps. 

I  know  you  think  that  you  ought  to  read  God's  word,  to 
pray,  to  sing  God's  praises  before  your  family.  You  would 
be  ashamed  to  teach  your  children  such  duties,  witthout  letting 
them  see  that  you  practise  them.  But  he  that  said,  'Thou 
shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve,' 
said  likewise,  'Ye  parents,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath, 
lest  they  be  discouraged.  Let  your  moderation  (or  meekness) 
be  known  unto  all  men.'  If  it  must  be  made  known  unto  all 
men,  it  ought  especially  to  be  made  known  unto  your  own 
families,  whom  you  are  bound  to  love  mth  the  most  tender 
regard.  Give  no  indulgence  to  an  imperious  temper  any  where, 
but  especially  in  that  place  where  no  redress  can  be  obtained 
if  you  act  the  tyrant.  Remember  that  the  meekness  and  gen- 
tleness of  Christ  was  one  eminent  part  of  that  lovely  example 
which  he  left  us ;  and  that  he  no  where  appeared  more  amiable 
than  in  his  own  family.  Remember  that  meekness  and  gentle- 
ness are  distiuguishing  characters  of  that  wisdom  which  must 
appear  in  your  own  conduct,  and  which  you  must  teach  your 
children:  'Who  is  a  wise  man,  and  endued  with  knowledge 
among  you  ?  let  him  show,  out  of  a  good  conversation,  his  works 
with  meekness  of  wisdom.'  That  wisdom  which  is  not  joined 
v/ith  meekness  is  not  the  Christian  wisdom.  It  is  not  'the 
wisdom  from  above.'     It  is  'earthly,  sensual,  devilish!     But 


BERMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  385 

the  wisdom  which  is  from  above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable, 
gentle,  and  easy  to  be  intreated,  full  of  mercy  and  j^ood  fruits, 
without  partiality,  and  without  hypocrisy;'  James  iii.  13-17. 

We  are  all  most  deeply  affected  and  imoressed  by  those 
things  that  come  nearest  to  ourselves.  You  may,  then,  believe 
that  your  children  will  be  most  deeply  impressed  by  that  part 
of  your  conduct  which  most  nearly  affects  their  comfort  and 
happiness.  No  part  of  your  behaviour  will  more  likely  be 
imitated  by  them,  than  your  behaviour  to  themselves.  If  you 
wish  them,  therefore,  to  make  themselves  amiable  to  all  around 
them,  behave  towards  them  with  every  reasonable  expression 
of  kindness.  If  you  desire  to  see  them  contentious  and  quar- 
relsome, and  ready  on  every  occasion  to  pour  forth  torrents 
of  abusive  language,  you  cannot  train  them  up  more  effectually 
in  such  an  odious  manner  of  behaviour,  than  by  frequently 
provoking  them  to  anger  without  any  justifiable  cause. 

4.  It  is  of  vast  importance  to  guard  young  persons  against  the 
common f  but  false  and  pernicious  notion j  that  the  ways  of  wisdom 
are  not  pleasantness  and  peace. — But,  instead  of  guarding  them 
against  this  notion,  you  infuse  it  into  their  minds  by  harsh 
and  rigorous  behaviour. 

All  men  desire  to  enjoy  pleasure ;  but,  above  all,  young  per- 
sons and  children,  who  have  yet  little  relish  for  profit  or  hon- 
our, and  therefore  place  the  greatest  part  of  the  happiness  of 
life  in  pleasure,  and  its  chief  misery  in  being  denied  those 
gratifications  from  which  it  results. 

We  have  often  heard  of  religious  parents,  whose  days  of  old 
age  have  been  imbittered  by  the  bad  behaviour  of  those  chil- 
dren that  have  been,  with  the  utmost  care,  educated  in  the 
knowledge  and  practice  of  religion.  One  cause  of  it  has  some- 
times been,  that  the  parents  have  over-done  in  this  great  duty 
of  educating  their  children  religiously.  They  have  been  too 
severe  and  harsh  in  their  admonitions  and  reproofs.  They  have 
held  the  reins  of  discipline  with  too  strait  a  hand,  and  have 
not  duly  considered  the  difference  between  youth  and  mature 
age;  between  babes,  and  young  men,  and  fathers  in  Christ. 

I  am  far  from  wishing  any  indulgence  in  sin  to  be  granted 
to  children,  or  connivance  at  the  neglect  of  any  necessary  duty. 
25 


386  TPIE   DUTY   OF   PAKEXTS  [SERMON  HI. 

I  do  not  say  that  they  ought  to  be  allowed  too  much  time  even 
for  their  lawful  diversions.  But  this  I  say,  that  they  ought 
to  be  governed  as  much  as  possible  by  love,  and  that  the  love 
of  their  parents  should  be  made  apparent  to  them  in  their  gen- 
eral course  of  behaviour,  unless  their  faults  exceed  the  ordinary 
faults  of  young  persons  of  their  age.  1  plead  not  for  sin,  but 
for  the  honour  of  religion,  when  I  contend,  that  compassion 
and  kindness  should  be  shown  even  to  offending  children,  when 
they  give  signs  of  repentance ;  and  often,  too,  before  they  give 
signs  of  repentance,  that  they  may  be  the  more  easily  induced 
to  repent.  *  When  Israel  was  a  child,'  says  God,  *  then  I  loved 
him.  I  taught  Ephraim  also  to  go,  taking  them  by  the  arms. 
I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love,  and  I 
was  to  them  as  they  that  take  off  the  yoke  from  their  jaws, 
and  I  laid  meat  unto  them/  If  the  Lord  had  not  showed  all 
that  sparing  mercy  and  tender  kindness  to  bis  nation  in  their 
state  of  childhood,  he  would  not  have  accounted  their  defections 
so  inexcusable  as  they  were.  ^What  iniquity,'  says  he,  ^have 
your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they  are  gone  away  far  from 
me?  Have  I  been  unto  Israel  a  barren  wilderness,  or  a  land 
of  darkness?  AVherefore  say  my  people.  We  are  lords,  we  will 
come  no  more  unto  thee?'  Had  God  been  a  barren  wilderness 
unto  them,  they  might  have  pleaded  something  to  excuse  them- 
selves, when  they  came  no  more  unto  Him.  If  he  had  not 
drawn  them  with  the  cords  of  love,  and  with  the  bands  of  a 
man,  they  could  not,  indeed,  have  alleged  that  there  was  any  un- 
righteousness with  Him;  but  their  alienation  from  God  would 
have  been  ten  times  less  aggravated.  Thus,  likewise,  if,  through 
the  austerity  of  parents,  religion  feels  as  a  load  to  their  chil- 
dren, which  they  will  shake  off  as  soon  as  it  is  in  their  power, 
they  deserve  pity  as  well  as  blame;  and  those,  whosoever  they 
be,  that  give  occasion  for  unjust  suspicions  concerning  the  ways 
of  God,  must  bear  their  own  burden. 

Our  blessed  Lord,  by  his  example,  taught  us  how  to  avoid 
both  the  dangerous  extremes  of  suffering  sin  in  his  pupils,  and 
of  discouraging  their  hearts  by  needless  austerities.  When 
Peter  spoke  against  the  cross,  he  reproved  him  with  severity 
as  an  agent  of  the  devil ;  and  yet,  when  the  same  man,  with 


SEEMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  387 

bis  corapanioDS,  gave  way  to  sleep  in  the  time  of  our  Lord's 
agony,  he  only  said,  'What!  could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one 
hour?'  He  never  with-held  needful  admonitions,  but  admin- 
istered them  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  that  his  love  to  his 
disciples  was  not  abated  by  their  infirmities.  He  taught  and 
enjoined  every  needful  duty,  and  yet  he  did  not  require  from 
them  such  frequent  fastings  as  those  of  which  John's  disciples 
and  the  disciples  of  the  Pharisees  boasted.  The  reason  for 
this  part  of  his  behaviour  was,  that  his  disciples  were  yet  but 
children  in  their  attainments,  and  that  the  time  was  not  yet 
come  when  such  fastings  were  requisite;  Mark  ii.  18-22.  'He 
fed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd ;  he  gathered  his  sheep  with  his 
arm;  he  carried  the  lambs  in  his  bosom;  he  gently  led  those 
that  were  with  young.  The  bruised  reed  he  did  not  break ; 
the  smoking  flax  he  did  not  quench.'  He  behaved  with  all 
that  meekness  of  wisdom  which  became  the  author  of  our  sal- 
vation, the  great  pattern  of  all  that  is  amiable  and  conde- 
scending. Thus  he  still  acts  towards  his  people;  thus  he  acts 
towards  us  who  have  the  inspection  of  the  souls  of  our  fellow- 
mortals  ;  thus  he  acts  towards  those  whom  he  has  placed  under 
our  inspection ;  and  if  we  have  ever  seen  the  glory  and  beauty 
of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  we  will  endeavour 
to  recommend  his  laws  to  all  around  us,  by  making  it  to  ap- 
pear, that,  according  to  our  measure,  we  are  changed  into  the 
same  image. 

Having  thus  shown,  that  the  apostle,  with  his  usual  wis- 
dom, requires  parents  to  show  forth  the  meekness  and  gentle- 
ness which  becomes  the  followers  of  Christ  to  their  children, 
whilst  they  endeavour  to  'bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord';  and  having  recommended  the  lead- 
ing duties  necessary  to  be  practised  by  Christians,  in  the  holy 
education  of  their  children;  I  shall  conclude  this  discourse 
with  an  address,  first  to  children,  and  then  to  parents. 

1.  To  children. — From  what  has  been  said,  you  who  are  chil- 
dren must  not  infer,  that  your  parents  are  to  blame  when  they  do 
not  gratify  your  humours,  or  when  they  administer  the  rod.  of 
correction  at  times,  or  in  a  degree,  that  you  may  think  unneces- 


388  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

sary.  You  are  not  so  wise  as  your  parents.  They  know  far  better 
than  you  do  what  methods  of  behaviour  are  best  calculated 
for  your  advantage.  It  does  not,  at  least,  become  you  to  think 
otherwise.  You  are  apt  to  be  partial  to  yourselves;  and  in 
nineteen  instances  out  of  twenty  you  will  mistake  in  judging 
for  yourselves  against  them,  in  your  own  favour.  A  modest 
child  will  be,  for  the  most  part,  disposed  to  think  that  his 
parents  treat  him  as  well  as  he  ought  to  be  treated,  although 
he  cannot  discern  the  reason  of  their  conduct. 

I  confess  there  are  too  many  instances  in  which  parents  vio- 
late the  rule  of  the  apostle,  which  I  have  been  endeavouring 
to  explain ;  and  there  are  some  instances  in  which  they  may 
violate  it  so  palpably,  that  children  themselves  must  see  it, 
unless  they  should  seal  up  their  eyes.  Jonathan  could  not 
but  see  that  Saul  did  not  act  the  part  of  a  father  to  him,  when 
he  loaded  him  with  bitter  words,  and  threw  the  javelin  against 
him.  But  remember  that  your  duty  to  your  parents  does  not 
lose  its  obh'gation  by  their  bad  behaviour.  They  are  your 
parents  still.  The  fifth  commandment  is  still  in  force.  It  is 
harder  to  observe  it,  but  it  must  be  observed,  if  you  mean  not 
to  transgress  the  laws  of  your  heavenly  Father,  who  surely 
never  treated  you  harshly. 

A  certain  Koman,  in  the  days  of  Paganism,  called  Titus 
Manlius,  was  extremely  ill  treated  by  his  father,  for  no  other 
reason  but  a  defect  in  his  speech.  A  tribune  of  the  people 
brought  an  accusation  against  the  father  before  the  people,  who 
hated  him  for  his  imperious  conduct,  and  were  determined  to 
punish  him  with  severity.  The  young  man  came  one  morning 
very  early  from  his  father's  country-farm,  w^here  he  was  forced 
to  live  in  the  style  of  a  slave,  and,  finding  out  the  house  of 
the  tribune  who  had  impeached  his  father,  compelled  him  to 
swear  that  he  would  immediately  drop  the  prosecution.  Oaths 
being  at  that  time  held  inviolable  in  Kome,  the  tribune  de- 
clared before  the  people,  that  he  withdrew  his  charge  against 
old  Manlius,  because  his  son  Titus  had  obliged  him  to  promise 
upon  oath  that  he  would  carry  it  no  farther.  The  people, 
charmed  witli  the  filial  piety  of  Titus  to  an  unnatural  father, 
not  only  forgave  the  old  man,  but  next  year  advanced  his 


SERMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  389 

generous  son  to  the  supreme  honours  of  the  state.  Here  you 
see  how  men,  guided  only  by  the  light  of  nature,  approved  and 
admired  filial  love  to  an  imperious  father.  How  inexcusable, 
then,  will  you  be,  if,  under  the  light  of  divine  revelation,  you 
cannot,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  who  died  for  you  when  you 
were  his  enemies,  behave  dutifully  to  relations  who  do  not  be- 
have dutifully  to  you? 

Did  Jonathan  rebel  against  his  father  for  affronting  him  in 
the  most  outrageous  manner,  and  seeking  the  blood  of  a  friend 
whom  he  loved  as  his  own  soul?  No:  Jonathan  speaks  in  a 
becoming  manner  of  his  father  to  David,  when  he  was  forced 
to  acknowledge  his  injustice,  and  fought  and  fell  by  his  father's 
side  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Gilboa.  If  he  had  not  continued  to 
behave  with  propriety  to  a  harsh  father,  David  would  not 
have  found  reason  to  say  in  his  funeral  elegy,  ^Saul  and  Jona- 
than were  lovely  in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were 
not  divided.' 

You  have  an  infinitely  nobler  example  than  Jonathan,  to 
teach  you  to  behave  well  to  friends  that  give  you  too  good 
reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with  their  conduct.  You  have  the 
example  of  our  suffering  Redeemer.  He  called  the  apostles 
Miis  friends  and  his  brethren';  yet  they  all  forsook  him,  and 
fled,  when  he  was  suffering  for  them.  But  did  he  desist  from 
his  redeeming  work?  did  he  abate  in  his  love?  ^Having  loved 
his  own  which  were  in  the  world,  he  loved  them  unto  the  end,' 
and  gave  them  the  brightest  displays  of  his  love  at  the  very 
time  when  they  dealt  deceitfully  with  him,  like  the  stream  of 
brooks  that  pass  away. 

Seek  grace  from  God  to  behave  dutifully  to  every  friend 
that  behaves  undutifully  to  you,  and  you  shall  in  no  wise  be 
unrewarded.  Consider  what  Peter  says  of  the  duty  of  servants 
to  bad  masters.  May  it  not  be  applied  to  the  duties  of  cliil- 
dren  to  parents,  and  to  the  duties  of  every  other  relation, 
where  harsh  severity  on  the  one  part  takes  place  of  that  gen- 
tleness which  the  nature  of  the  relation  requires?  'Sorvanti^, 
be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all  fear;  not  only  to  the  good 
and  gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward.  For  this  is  thank-worthy, 
if  a  man  for  conscience  towards  God  endure  grief,  suffering 


390  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

wrongfully.  If,  when  ye  do  well,  and  suffer,  ye  take  it  pa- 
tiently, this  is  acceptable  with  God.  For  even  Christ  suffered 
for  us,  leaving  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  his  steps ^; 
1  Peter  ii.  18-25. 

2.  To  Parents. — I  might  now  dismiss  the  subject  with  a  very 
short  appeal  to  the  consciences  of  those  who  are  parents,  whether 
there  is  any  thing  in  the  present  life  to  which  you  are  bound  more 
carefully  to  attend,  than  to  the  duties  which  are  here  enjoined 
by  the  authority  of  Christ?  But  I  will  yet  beg  your  patience 
a  little  longer,  that  I  may  say  something  more  on  your  chil- 
dren's behalf.  Their  souls  are  exceedingly  precious.  If,  by 
a  few  more  arguments,  I  can  prevail  on  any  parents  to  do  what, 
they  can  for  the  salvation  of  their  children,  the  patience  of  the 
whole  assembly  will  be  well  bestowed,  and  well  recompensed. 
If  a  single  child  in  the  assembly  had  fallen  down  dead,  like 
Eutychus,  from  the  loft,  would  you  think  your  time  ill  be- 
stowed, if  you  should  all  wait  together  a  full  hour,  to  see  if 
any  of  you  could  do  any  thing  that  might  be  a  means  of  re- 
storing him  to  life? 

I  need  not  exhort  you  separately.  To  beware  of  provoking 
your  children  to  wrath;  and.  To  be  careful  about  training 
them  up  for  God.  When  you  are  exhorted  to  bring  them  up 
for  God,  you  are  exhorted  at  the  same  time  to  show  them  all 
that  kindness  which  is  so  necessary  to  sweeten  your  instruc- 
tions and  reproofs.  When  the  physician  prevails  on  you  to 
administer  some  bitter  drug  to  your  child,  he  will  not  need 
many  words  to  persuade  you  to  cover  it  over  with  some  pala- 
table ingredient. 

(1.)  For  God's  sake^  who  has  commanded  you  to  ^  bring  up 
your  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Loxd^ 
neglect  not  this  comprehensive  duty. — Are  you  Christians?  Then 
you  are  the  servants  of  God ;  and  what  has  the  servant  to 
do  but  what  his  master  requires?  Every  good  servant  will 
cheerfully  endeavour  to  execute  the  commandments  of  a  good 
master. 

The  least  intimation  of  the  will  of  God  will  certainly  be  re- 
garded by  all  that  'join  themselves  to  the  Lord  to  serve  him, 
to  love  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  be  his  servants.'     But  the 


SERMON   III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  391 

commandment  in  our  text  is  certainly  to  be  considered  as  one 
of  the  greatest  commandments.      What  doth  your  gracious 
Master  require  from  you,  but  that  you  should  promote  his 
glory  to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  by  working  out  your  own 
salvation,  and  by  contributing  your  influence  to  promote  the 
salvation  of  your  fellow-sinners?    those,  especially,  who  are 
under  your  authority.     Say  not,  '  If  I  work  out  my  own  sal- 
vation, what  more  can  be  required  from  me?'     You  cannot 
^vork  out  your  own  salvation,  if  you  are  not  deeply  concerned 
about  the  salvation  of  your  children.     If  God  'work  in  you 
both  to  will  and  to  do,'  you  will  feel  ardent  desires  to  promote 
the  salvation  of  your  fellow-men;  and  these  desires  will  not 
sleep  in  your  bosoms.     They  will  be  expressed  in  earnest  en- 
deavours, where  there  is  a  probability  that  these  endeavours 
will  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 

Attend,  all  ye  who  call  yourselves  the  people  of  the  Lord, 
unto  one  of  his  laws  which  I  am  going  to  recite  in  your  ears. 
It  is  a  law  which  he  hath  established  in  his  church,  that  the 
glory  of  his  name  might  be  advanced  in  every  age,  and  trans- 
mitted by  every  present  generation  to  every  succeeding  genera- 
tion: 'He  established  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a 
law  in  Israel,  which  he  commanded  our  fathers,  that  they 
should  make  them  known  to  their  children.'  This,  certainly, 
is  not  one  of  those  temporary  laws  which  were  to  be  abolished 
at  the  time  of  reformation.  If  we  '  surname  ourselves  by  the 
name  of  Israel,'  we  will  certainly  acknowledge  that  this  law 
of  the  God  of  Jacob  demands  our  most  attentive  regard. 

What  is  the  most  earnest  desire  of  every  Christian?  Is  it 
not  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto 
all  pleasing?  If  so,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  way  o 
pleasing  God  is,  'to  stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all  the  will 
of  God.'  And  this  is  certainly  an  eminent  part  of  his  revealed 
will,  that  we  should  endeavour  to  train  up  our  children  for 
his  service.  How  well  he  is  pleased  with  obedience  to  his 
will  in  this  point,  is  plain  from  the  gracious  words  spoken 
concerning  Abraham;  Gen.  xviii.  18,  19.  Abraham  was  the 
friend  of  God,  and  God  would  hide  none  of  all  those  secrets 
from  him,  which  it  might  be  of  use  to  him  to  know,     iiut, 


392  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

how  did  it  appear  that  Abraham  was  the  friend  of  God?  'Shall 
I  hide  from  Abraham/  said  the  Lord,  'that  which  I  do,  see- 
ing I  know  Abraham,  that  he  will  command  his  children  and 
his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the 
Lord  to  do  judgment  and  justice,  that  I  may  bring  upon  Abra- 
ham that  which  I  have  spoken  of  him.'  Abraham's  children 
that  were  chiefly  to  enjoy  and  improve  his  instructions  were  not 
yet  born ;  but  God  knew  that  Abraham  would  command  them, 
as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  command  them,  to  keep  the  way 
of  the  Lord ;  and  God  will  not  suffer  Abraham  to  go  unre- 
warded at  that  time,  for  what  he  was  afterwards  to  do.  Many 
good  works  had  Abraham  already  done  for  God,  and  yet  God 
mentions  none  of  them.  The  God  who  knows  all  things,  knew 
that  he  would  command  his  children,  and  his  household  after 
him,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord.  This  instance  of  his  piety 
is  singled  out  from  all  others  by  God,  when  he  designed  to 
do  him  honour,  and  to  reward  his  piety  with  a  distinguished 
token  of  his  friendship.  Think  not  within  yourselves  that 
Abraham  is  your  father,  if  you  do  not  the  works  of  Abraham; 
or  that  Christ  will  acknowledge  you  as  his  friends,  if  you  keep 
not  this  important  commandment,  of  bringing  up  your  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  By  obeying 
it,  you  not  only  prove  your  fidelity  in  one  part  of  your  duty, 
but,  as  far  as  lies  in  you,  you  cause  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  to  be  observed  by  your  children  after  you.  By  neglecting 
it,  you  are  chargeable  with  innumerable  acts  of  disobedience 
in  one,  because  the  iniquities  of  your  children,  the  consequences 
of  your  neglect,  will  be  justly  placed  to  your  account. 

(2.)  /  urge  you  to  perform  this  duty  from  a  regard  to  your 
children. — You  love  them.  But  how  do  you  show  your  love 
to  them?  Is  it  only  by  providing  for  them  those  things  that 
are  necessary  for  their  bodies?  But,  wherein  are  you  better 
than  the  most  stupid  or  ferocious  animals,  if  your  views,  either 
for  yourselves  or  for  your  children,  are  confined  within  such 
narrow  bounds?  Do  not  even  tigers  and  lionesses  provide 
what  is  needful  for  the  subsistence  of  their  young?  Perhaps 
you  say,  that  you  educate  them  to  be  useful  and  accomplished 
members  of  society,  by  giving  them  instruction  in  arts  or 


SERMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  393 

sciences.  This  is  certainly  good  in  its  place.  But  what  do 
you  more  than  heathens,  if  you  do  not  likewise  teach  them  to 
fear  God?  Or  do  you  not  rather  come  short  of  the  heathens, 
who  used  to  train  up  their  children  in  the  knowledge  and  wor- 
ship of  the  gods  of  their  fathers? 

You  know  that  your  children  were  born  in  a  state  of  sin 
and  misery,  and  that  it  would  have  been  good  for  them  never 
to  have  been  born,  if  they  are  never  recovered  from  that  state. 
None  can  recover  them  from  it  but  God,  who  has  appointed 
parental  instruction  and  discipline  as  one  of  the  principal  means 
for  this  purpose.  If  you  do  not  apply  this  mean,  what  obliga- 
tion are  they  under  to  you  for  giving  them  a  life,  which,  for 
any  thing  that  you  will  do  to  prevent  it,  must  be  miserable 
beyond  expression  through  endless  ages?  If  you  saw  them 
ready  to  be  cast  into  a  burning  fiery  furnace,  what  would  you 
not  do  to  save  them?  Would  you  not  part  with  every  shill- 
ing of  your  property,  with  the  clothes  on  your  back,  almost 
with  your  lives,  to  buy  them  a  pardon,  if  they  were  condemned 
by  human  laws  to  the  flames?  But  such  flames  soon  exhaust 
their  power  to  torment.  The  flames  of  hell  are  eternal,  and 
all  sinners  must  ^ dwell  with  these  everlasting  burnings/  who 
are  not  Svashed,  and  sanctified,  and  justified  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God';  whose  ordinary 
method  of  operation  is  not  by  immediate  inspiration,  but  by 
that  knowledge  of  the  truth  which  is  obtained  through  the 
means  appointed  by  himself.  No  doubt,  the  Spirit  of  God  can 
work  by  other  means  than  parental  instructions,  or  without 
means,  if  he  pleases.  But  God  can  likewise  provide  food  and 
raiment  for  children  without  the  help  of  their  parents,  or  he 
could  feed  us  all  with  bread  from  heaven,  as  he  fed  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  in  the  desert;  and  yet  no  man  will  neglect  the 
ordinary  means  of  providing  for  himself,  or  for  his  family, 
unless  he  is  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  understanding. 

Would  you  not  be  very  diligent  in  labouring  for  your  fami- 
lies, if  you  saw  a  rational  prospect  of  providing  a  rich  estate 
for  them  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  your  industry?  No 
man  can  have  a  more  rational  prospect  of  laying  up  a  rich  por- 
tion for  his  children  by  his  utmost  industry,  than  Christians 


394  THE   DUTY  OF  PAKENTS  [SEEMON  III. 

liave  of  being  instrumental  in  the  'deliverance'  of  those  chil- 
dren whom  they  train  up  for  God,  'from  the  power  of  dark- 
ness/ that,  being  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear 
Son,'  they  may  possess  'the  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible, 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away.'  Will  you  be  more  care- 
ful to  provide  for  the  fruit  of  your  bodies  the  meat  that  perish- 
eth,  than  the  meat  which  endureth  unto  eternal  life?  Are 
you  more  anxious  to  see  them  in  possession  of  enjoyments 
which  cannot  continue  with  them  seventy  or  eighty  years,  and 
probably  will  not  continue  with  them  half  that  time,  than  to 
be  blessed  with  the  transporting  hope  of  seeing  them  in  pos- 
session of  those  eternal  pleasures  which  are  at  the  right-hand 
of  God;  of  those  pleasures  which  were  purchased,  not  with 
corruptible  things,  such  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  Christ?  What,  then,  must  we  think  of  your 
temper  of  mind?  Are  you  to  be  ranked  with  those  who  mind 
earthly  things;  or  with  those  who  have  their  conversation  in 
heaven,  from  whence  we  look  for  the  Saviour?  with  those  who 
look  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  and  are  temporal;  or  with 
those  who  look  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  and  are  eter- 
nal?   Judge  for  yourselves! 

I  know  what  some  will  think,  although,  perhaps,  they  w^ill 
not  say  it.  They  love  their  children  very  well ;  but  they  see 
that  the  duties  recommended  to  them  w^ould  put  them  to  a 
great  deal  of  trouble,  and  the  success  of  their  endeavours  is  very 
uncertain.  They  would  gladly  submit  to  all  the  toil,  if  it  were 
certain  that  their  children  would  obtain  all  those  advantages 
from  it  which  have  been  mentioned.  But  good  parents  have 
sometimes  bad  children,  after  all  the  pains  they  can  bestow 
upon  them,  and  therefore  they  will  leave  it  to  God  to  deal  as 
he  pleases  with  their  own  children;  only  using  such  means  to 
instruct  them  in  their  duty,  as  other  people  around  them  use. 

AVhy  do  you  grudge  the  trouble  of  doing  your  duty  to  your 
children?  Did  you  ever  liope  to  bring  up  a  family  without 
trouble?  You  certainly  read  the  Bible  before  you  married 
your  wives,  and  heard  Paul  telling  you,  that  those  persons 
who  wished  to  have  wives,  or  husbands,  must  expect  trouble 
in  the  flesh.     Is  trouble  to  be  grudged   only  when  it  is  in- 


SERMON   III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  305 

tended  to  serve  the  best  purposes  in  the  world?  You  must 
have  some  trouble  while  you  live  in  a  troublesome  world.  J^ut 
no  troubles  are  so  well  recompensed  with  pleasure  and  ad- 
vantage, as  those  which  are  cheerfully  endured  in  the  service 
of  God.  Indeed,  if  we  are  faithful  servants  to  God,  our  troubles 
will  be  turned  into  pleasures.  Love  to  Rachel  made  Jacob's 
service  of  Laban  pleasant,  although  he  was  exposed  to  the 
scorching  heats  of  the  day,  to  the  freezing  colds  of  the  night, 
yea,  to  what  is  more  grievous  than  both,  the  ill  usage  of  a  hard 
uncle.  Will  not  love  to  Christ,  and  love  to  your  children, 
make  those  labours  pleasant,  which  are  designed  to  promote 
the  glory  of  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  your  children? 

But  here,  you  will  say,  lies  the  hardship, — 'What  reason 
have  I  to  hope  that  my  children  will  receive  any  saving  bene- 
fit?' I  say,  on  the  other  side,  what  knowest  thou,  O  man! 
whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  children?  If  this  is  not  a  suf- 
ficient motive  for  trying  it,  Paul  was  a  bad  reasoner,  although 
he  was  taught  by  a  greater  master  than  Gamaliel.  I  confess 
that  your  labours  may  be  unsuccessful ;  but  you  must  grant 
that  it  is  very  possible,  if  not  highly  probable,  that  they  may 
be  successful.  If  they  are  not  successful  with  all  your  chil- 
dren, they  may  be  with  some.  'I  know  Abraham,  that  he 
will  command  his  children,  and  his  household  after  him,  and 
they  will  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord.'  Well  do  we  know  that 
many  of  Abraham's  children  after  him  did  not  keep  the  way 
of  the  Lord.  The  number  of  his  natural  seed  that  kept  the 
way  of  the  Lord,  has  not  hitherto  been  nearly  equal  to  the 
number  which  has  not  kept  it.  And  yet,  in  God's  own  esti- 
mation, his  labours  have  been  crowned  with  glorious  success. 

Perhaps  those  very  children  which,  at  present,  cause  to  your 
minds  the  greatest  uneasiness  by  their  perverseness,  may  yet 
be  your  greatest  comforts,  if  you  persist,  against  discourage- 
ments, in  doing  your  duty.  The  woman  of  Canaan  saw  her 
desire  at  last  upon  her  daughter,  although  she  met  with  greater 
discouragements  in  the  means  she  used  for  obtaining  her  cure, 
than  you  have  yet  met  with  in  your  endeavours  to  do  good  to 
the  souls  of  all  your  children  together.  The  great  Augustine, 
in  his  younger  days,  was  a  Manichee  (one  who  ascribed  the 


396  THE  DUTY  OP  PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

work  of  creatiou  to  the  devil).  He  was  a  libertine  in  his  con- 
duct, and  cost  his  mother  many  tears,  and  many  prayers;  but 
she  was  told  by  her  pious  friends,  that  the  child  of  so  many 
prayers  and  tears  could  not  be  lost;  which  was  accordingly 
verified  to  her  happy  experience.  Perhaps  from  the  day  that 
John  the  divine  died,  there  has  not  been  a  greater  man  in  the 
church  than  Augustine. 

If  you  should  lie  down  in  the  grave  without  seeing  any 
happy  effects  of  your  instructions,  you  may  hear  of  them  in 
another  world.  Manasseh,  the  son  of  Hezekiah,  was,  no  doubt, 
instructed  with  all  possible  care  by  his  father,  and  by  the  pro- 
phet Isaiah.  ^The  father  to  the  children,'  says  Hezekiah, 
*  shall  declare  thy  truth.'  His  own  son,  however,  did  not  know 
the  Lord  for  a  long  time  after  his  father's  death.  But  the 
Lord  sent  upon  him  sore  affliction,  to  put  him  in  mind  of  what 
he  learned  from  his  father;  and  *then  Manasseh,'  though 
formerly  the  worst  of  men,  *knew  the  Lord  that  he  was  God.' 
When  he  was  among  the  thorns,  he  knew  and  called  to  mind 
the  way  of  finding  mercy ;  for  he  had  learned  it  in  the  days 
of  childhood,  although  he  had  long  forgotten  it. 

Although  your  own  immediate  children  should  derive  little 
benefit  from  your  dealings  with  them,  your  grandchildren  may. 
So  much  knowledge  of  religion  may  be  transmitted  to  your 
descendants  as  may  have  little  effect  on  one  generation,  but  a 
saving  effect  on  another;  for  religion,  kept  up  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  it,  though  useless  to  those  that  hold  the  truth  without 
feeling  its  power,  may  be  transmitted  by  them  to  those  whom 
the  grace  of  God  may  enable  to  make  a  better  improvement 
of  it.  We  do  not  read  of  the  good  effects  of  Abraham's  in- 
structions upon  Ishmael;  though,  from  the  expression  of  his 
being  'gathered  to  his  people,'  and  from  the  prayers  of  Abra- 
ham for  him,  which  were  graciously  answered  by  God,  we 
may  with  some  probability  infer  that  he  died  a  saint;  Gen. 
xvii.  1 8,  20,  23 :  xxv.  17.  We  do  not  read  of  any  good  effects 
of  Isaac's  instructions  upon  Esau.  But  we  know,  that  the 
posterity  of  Ishmael  and  of  Esau  lived  in  Arabia,  where  the 
knowledge  and  practice  of  true  religion  seem  to  have  been  still 
preserved  amongst  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  and  of  his 


SERMON  III.]  TO  THEIR  CHILDREN.  '  397 

friends,  when  other  nations  were  generally,  If  not  universally, 
idolaters.  '  Who  knoweth  not  in  all  these/  says  Job,  *  that  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  hath  wrought  this?'  And  elsewhere  he 
speaks  of  the  worship  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the  earliest  species 
of  idolatry,  as  a  crime  to  be  punished  by  the  judges;  which 
may  indeed  mean,  that  it  is  a  crime  which  will  certainly  be 
punished  by  God,  the  Judge  of  the  universe  (who  is  frequently 
spoken  of  in  the  plural  number).  But,  at  any  rate,  this,  and 
many  other  passages  in  the  speeches  of  Job  and  his  friends, 
make  it  evident  that  the  country  where  they  dwelt  was  very 
far  from  being  destitute  of  the  knowledge  or  fear  of  the  true 
God.  And  the  names  of  Eliphaz,  Teman,  Buz,  leave  little 
room  to  doubt  whence  the  friends  of  Job  had  learned  relisrion. 

o 

What  knowest  thou,  O  man !  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy 
children,  or  whether  thou  shalt  be  instrumental  in  the  salva- 
tion of  thy  grandchildren,  and  of  their  children,  to  the  tenth 
and  twentieth  generation?  Was  not  Jeroboam  the  plague  and 
the  curse  of  his  people  from  generation  to  generation?  It  is 
highly  probable,  that  many  of  their  descendants  are,  to  this 
day,  practising  those  idolatries  which  he  taught  their  fathers, 
or  other  worse  idolatries,  to  which  they  were  led  of  course, 
when  they  were  driven  from  following  the  Lord.  It  is  to  be 
confessed,  that  the  instruction  which  causeth  to  err  from  the 
words  of  knowledge,  has  ordinatrily  a  greater  influence  upon 
men,  than  those  holy  instructions  which  are  drawn  from  the 
Scripture;  because,  through  the  corruption  of  human  nature, 
sin  pleases  men  more  than  holiness.  Yet  the  grace  of  God 
can  give  that  efficacy  to  good  instructions,  which  will  render 
them  the  seed  of  holiness  to  many  succeeding  generations. 
Abraham's  endeavours  to  transmit  religion  to  his  posterity, 
seemed  to  have  lost  their  effect  during  the  course  of  many 
generations;  and  yet  God,  by  the  unseen  workings  of  his  pro- 
vidence, preserved  the  knowledge  of  his  doctrines  from  being 
utterly  extinguished  amongst  his  posterity,  and  often  revived 
his  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years  of  apostasy.  Divine  grace 
can  certainly  give  that  permanency  to  the  effect  of  instructions 
that  are  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  which  the  corrupt  bias  of 
the  human  heart  gives  to  the  influence  of  error  and  wicked- 


398  THE  DUTY  OF  PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

ness;  and  therefore  we  ought,  for  the  sake  of  generations  yet 
unborn,  for  the  sake  of  generations  to  be  born  hundreds  of 
years  hence,  to  take  care  what  education  we  give  to  our  chil- 
dren, and  what  example  we  set  them.  The  effect  of  our  con- 
duct towards  our  children  may  operate  upon  their  children 
to  remote  ages.  If  we  train  them  up  in  ignorance  and  irre- 
ligion,  it  is  probable  that  they  will  transmit  ignorance  and 
impiety  to  their  children  also,  and  to  their  children's  children. 
If  we  train  them  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  we  may  be  instru- 
ments, under  divine  influence,  of  preserving  the  knowledge  of 
God  in  our  land,  till  that  happy  period  come,  when  'the  knowl- 
edge of  God  shall  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.' 
Our  instructions  and  example  may  contribute  to  that  glorious 
revival  of  religion  which  is  to  take  place  in  the  latter  days, 
although  it  should  yet  be  removed  from  us  to  the  distance  of 
two  hundred  years.  It  is  a  question  whether  we  shall  live  to 
see  that  happy  period  of  the  church,  but  we  daily  pray  that  it 
may  come.  Our  works  and  our  prayers  are  inconsistent  with 
one  another,  if  we  do  not  endeavour  to  sow  that  seed  which, 
in  the  last  days,  will  spring  up  so  abundantly.  If  we  are  in 
heaven  when  that  period  comes,  it  will  double  our  joy  to  know, 
that  any  thing  which  we  did  whilst  we  were  in  the  world  has 
contributed  to  effect  such  a  happy  change.  This,  I  think,  we 
may  freely  infer  from  what  our  Lord  says  to  his  disciples ; 
John  iv.  36-38;  concerning  the  advantages  which  his  dis- 
ciples derived  from  the  labours  of  their  predecessors,  and  the 
joy  which  will  be  felt  by  sowers  and  reapers  together,  when 
the  harvest  is  gathered  in. 

(3.)  Let  your  own  comfort  and  advantage  in  the  effect  of  your 
labours,  excite  y,ou  to  make  full  proof  of  all  that  can  he  done  for 
the  salvation  of  your  children.— Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  that 
he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  grown  up,  he  will  be  wise ;  and 
what  joy  can  exceed  that  of  a  father  in  the  wisdom  of  his  son, 
especially  when  his  own  instructions  and  example  have  greatly 
contributed  to  make  him  wise?  Will  not  such  children  be 
the  crown  of  their  parents,  both  in  this  world,  and  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  Jesus  Christ? 

Allowing,  what  may  be  true,  although  we  hope  otherwise, 


SEEMON  III.]  It)  THEIR  CHILDREN.  399 

that  your  children  should  remain  to  the  end  blind  and  hard- 
ened, after  all  that  you  can  do  for  their  souls,  your  labour  is 
not  lost.  You  shall  have  your  reward.  The  reward  of  Christ's 
servants  is  according  to  their  work,  not  according  to  their  suc- 
cess; 1  Cor.  iii.  13,  14.  This,  surely,  may  satisfy  you,  when 
it  satisfied  Christ  in  a  like  case.  'I  said,  I  have  laboured  in 
vain,  I  have  spent  ray  strength  for  nought,  and  in  vain ;  yet 
surely  my  reward  is  with  the  Lord,  and  my  work  with  my 
God.^  Whilst  you  are  in  this  world,  your  compassion  for 
your  perishing  children  will,  indeed,  greatly  abate  your  com- 
fort: but,  in  this  world,  whilst  they  live,  you  cannot  certainly 
know  that  your  labour  will  always  remain  uncrowned  with 
success.  If  they  should  visibly  die  in  their  iniquities  through 
their  own  folly,  your  bowels  of  compassion  must  be  greatly 
troubled  within  you:  but  the  pain  you  feel  will  not  be,  by  a 
thousand  times,  so  distressing  as  your  self-tormenting  reflec- 
tions w^ould  be,  in  the  consciousness  that  their  perdition  must 
be  in  part  imputed  to  yourselves.  David  mourned  bitterly 
the  fate  of  his  unhappy  son  Absalom  ;  but,  from  some  of  his 
lust  compositions;  Psalms  xviii.  Ixxii.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  1-5;  we 
may  justly  infer,  that  he  recovered  his  wonted  cheerfulness  of 
spirit  and  joy  in  the  Lord.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that 
Eli,  if  he  had  lived  many  years  after  the  death  of  Hophni  and 
Phinehas,  would  ever  have  enjoyed  a  day's  happiness.  The 
assurance  of  heaven  to  himself  could  scarcely  have  made  a  man 
happy  on  earth,  whose  sons  had  perished  through  his  ne- 
glect. There  will  be  no  sorrow  in  heaven.  But,  if  it  were 
possible  that  any  grief  could  enter  into  the  abodes  of  bliss,  I 
believe  it  would  seize  upon  those  men,  some  of  whom  may 
have  an  humble  place  in  those  dwellings,  whose  children  had 
perished  through  their  negligence,  or  the  influence  of  their 
bad  example.  Although  parents  obtain  repentance  for  their 
own  faults,  they  cannot  give  it  to  their  children,  to  repair  their 
former  errors. 

(4.)  Your  duty  to  your  parents,  or  to  your  remote  ancestors, 
who  transmitted  unto  you  the  truths  of  God,  binds  you  to  transmit 
their  religion  to  their  posterity. — Many  of  them  jeoparded  their 
lives  in  defense  of  the  truth,  that  it  might  come  down  uuadul- 


400  THE   DUTY  OF   PARENTS  [SERMON  III. 

terated  to  you.  Eead  the  history  of  the  contendings  of  your 
fathers  in  the  various  reformation-periods  of  our  church,  and 
especially  in  days  of  bloody  persecutions.  Will  not  their 
perils,  their  solemn  covenants,  their  prisons,  their  scaffolds, 
bear  witness  against  you  at  the  day  of  judgment,  if  it  is  found 
that,  by  your  negligence  or  misbehaviour,  you  have  done  what 
was  in  your  power  to  make  all  their  generous  efforts  useless  to 
their  posterity?  Do  you  wish  to  resemble  those  wicked 
kings  of  Judah,  who  did  not  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight 
of  God,  like  David  their  father? 

(5.)  But,  I  have  more  powerful  argvments  still  to  enforce  pa- 
rental duty.  They  are  taken  from  the  redemption  purchased  for 
^is  by  Christ. — No  considerations  will  be  more  effectual  to  im- 
press us  with  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  our  own  salvation, 
or  of  the  salvation  of  our  children  and  friends,  than  those  which 
are  drawn  from  the  works  that  Christ  performed,  and  the  suf- 
ferings that  he  endured,  for  our  salvation.  Think,  careless 
sinners!  of  our  Lord's  deep  abasement.  Why  did  become 
into  our  world,  clothed  with  a  mortal  body?  Why  did  he 
endure  pain,  and  shame,  and  the  wrath  of  God?  Was  it  not 
to  obtain  salvation  for  us?  And  will  yoUj  hereafter,  think  it 
a  matter  of  small  concern,  whether  you  share  in  his  salvation 
or  not?  Will  you  account  it  a  hardship,  that  you  must  put 
yourself  to  some  trouble  to  promote  the  salvation  of  those  whom 
you  love?  O  that  the  mind  which  was  in  Christ  were  in  us 
also!  We  would,  like  Paul,  be  willing  to  endure  all  things 
for  the  elect's  sake,  that  they  may  obtain  the  salvation  which  is 
in  Christ,  with  eternal  glory.  You  know  not,  indeed,  whether 
your  children  are  elected  or  not,  till  the  fruits  of  their  election 
appear  in  their  lives.  But  do  you  think  that  Paul  could  dis- 
tinguish the  elect,  before  their  effectual  calling,  any  more  than 
yourselves?  You  do  not  defer  their  baptism  till  you  are  as- 
sured of  their  election.  Instruct,  admonish,  correct  them 
for  them ;  and  your  work  shall  be  rewarded. 


BS1315.L427 

Practical  expositions  of  the  whole  books 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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